Sample and comparison location as factors in matching acquisition, transfer, and acquired equivalence.
Pigeons learned symbolic matching with samples appearing equally often on left and right keys. For a location-relevant group, the reinforced comparison choice for each sample reversed across sample locations; for a location-irrelevant group, the reinforced choices were the same. Consistent with the hypothesis that samples at different locations are functionally different for pigeons, Experiment 1 showed that matching acquisition was comparable in these two groups. Nevertheless, the location-irrelevant group eventually ignored sample location, given that their performances subsequently transferred to a novel (center-key) sample location. This transfer was not simply due to sample familiarity at different training locations; rather, it required that left- and right-key samples occasion the same reinforced choices in training. Acquired equivalence between those samples was then assessed in Experiment 2. The location-irrelevant group showed the predicted equivalence effects, but the location-relevant group did not--in fact, its results were the opposite of those predicted by equivalence. Their results indicate that the functional comparison stimuli are also defined in terms of their locations.
Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2081, USA. uche@psych.purdue.edu
Peter J
PJ
Urcuioli
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002755:Choice Behavior; D010856:Columbidae; D007858:Learning; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D014163:Transfer, Psychology