Matching-to-sample abstract-concept learning by pigeons.
Abstract concepts--rules that transcend training stimuli--have been argued to be unique to some species. Pigeons, a focus of much concept-learning research, were tested for learning a matching-to-sample abstract concept. Five pigeons were trained with three cartoon stimuli. Pigeons pecked a sample 10 times and then chose which of two simultaneously presented comparison stimuli matched the sample. After acquisition, abstract-concept learning was tested by presenting novel cartoons on 12 out of 96 trials for 4 consecutive sessions. A cycle of doubling the training set followed by retraining and novel-testing was repeated eight times, increasing the set size from 3 to 768 items. Transfer performance improved from chance (i.e., no abstract-concept learning) to a level equivalent to baseline performance (>80%) and was similar to an equivalent function for same/different abstract-concept learning. Analyses assessed the possibility that item-specific choice strategies accounted for acquisition and transfer performance. These analyses converged to rule out item-specific strategies at all but the smallest set-sizes (3-24 items). Ruling out these possibilities adds to the evidence that pigeons learned the relational abstract concept of matching-to-sample.
Bodily
Kent D
KD
Department of Psychology, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA. bodilke@auburn.edu
Katz
Jeffrey S
JS
Wright
Anthony A
AA
D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition; D010856:Columbidae; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics; D014163:Transfer, Psychology