Chunking during serial learning by a pigeon: I. Basic evidence.
Chunking by pigeons was demonstrated by comparing performance on different types of lists. Experiment 1 showed that Groups II and IV (who learned lists in which colors and achromatic geometric forms were segregated: A----B----C----D'----E' and A----B----C----D----E', respectively) executed lists more rapidly than did Group I (who learned a homogeneous list of colors: A----B----C----D----E) or Groups II and III (who learned lists consisting of unsegregated colors and forms: A----B'----C----D'----E and A----B----C'----D----E, respectively). Experiment 2 showed that Groups II and IV tolerated interruptions of the list better than did Groups I, III, and V. The accuracy of responding of Groups I, III, and V decreased as a function of the duration of the interruption and the point in the sequence at which it occurred. The performance of Group II was unaffected by interruptions; Group IV was minimally affected. These results indicate that Groups II and IV organized their lists as ordered chunks.
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Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027.
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D010856:Columbidae; D005795:Generalization, Stimulus; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012691:Serial Learning; D014163:Transfer, Psychology