Do pigeons (Columba livia) study for a test?
In 4 experiments, the authors asked whether pigeons (Columba livia) would show metamemory by choosing to study a sample stimulus before taking a memory test. In Experiments 1a-1c, pigeons chose between cues that led either to exposure to a sample stimulus or directly to the comparison test stimuli without seeing the sample in a delayed matching-to-sample task. The same choice was used in Experiment 2 to see whether pigeons would take a reminder when memory of the sample was weak. In Experiments 3 and 4, pigeons' responses led to either a choice between red and green side keys with a sample present to guide the choice or a choice with no sample present. The findings of all of these experiments suggest the absence of metamemory in pigeons.
Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. roberts@uwo.ca
William A
WA
Roberts
Miranda C
MC
Feeney
Neil
N
McMillan
Krista
K
MacPherson
Evanya
E
Musolino
Mark
M
Petter
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D010856:Columbidae / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors