A three-component model of relational responding in the transposition paradigm.

Abstract

We present a new model of transposition behavior that involves 3 predictors: (a) the disparity in generalized associative strength from the previously reinforced and nonreinforced stimuli (g) to the stimuli in the testing pair; (b) relational disparity (r), the difference in the logarithmically scaled sensory values of the testing stimuli; and (c) familiarity (f), the inverse of the Euclidean distance from the testing pair to the nearest training pair in 2-dimensional stimulus space. We evaluated the model with pigeons as subjects and with circle diameter (Experiment 1) and speed of motion (Experiment 2) as sensory dimensions. In each experiment, we presented 1, 2, or 3 training pairs as well as a wide range of testing pairs, including those comprising nonadjacent training stimuli. The control that was exerted by g did not depend on the number of training pairs and predicted behavior better than r and f after 1-pair training. In contrast, the influence of r increased dramatically with an increase in the number of training pairs. The contribution of f depended on the stimulus domain: When circle area was used (Experiment 1), the influence of f was similar to r; however, when speed of motion was used (Experiment 2), f had no discernible effect on pigeons' behavior. In sum, our results suggest that pigeons' transposition behavior is affected by both reinforcement history (g) and the relation between the experimental stimuli (r and f); our model provides a principled means for assessing the relative contribution of each predictor to choice behavior.

Simultaneous Discrimination of Speed is More Difficult than Simultaneous Discrimination of Size for Both Pigeons and People

“…In contrast, we found that pigeons required more extensive training to learn speed discrimination than size discrimination (Lazareva, Young, & Wasserman, 2014). However, our results were based on a comparison of two experiments conducted in different laboratories, complicating the interpretation of the data.…”

“…Earlier, we reported that pigeons appeared to easily acquire simultaneous two-alternative size discrimination but not speed discrimination (Lazareva et al, 2014). In Experiment 1, we found no observable improvement in discrimination of rotational speed in a simultaneous two-alternative task after an extensive training.…”

“…In contrast to these reports, Lazareva, Young, and Wasserman (2014) found that pigeons required more than 2,500 trials to learn a simultaneous two-alternative discrimination of two objects moving along y-axis at different speeds; in comparison, a simultaneous two-alternative discrimination of size has been mastered in as little as 360 trials. Because this result appeared to be at odds with the existing literature, we conducted a series of experiments systematically exploring pigeons' ability to discriminate differences in size and speed.…”

“…Our preliminary research has shown that pigeons can indeed learn this type of translational velocity discrimination (see Lazareva, et al, 2014). We have also reported that pigeons appeared to learn size discrimination faster than speed discrimination.…”

Do Dogs Demonstrate Susceptibility to a Vertically Presented Ponzo Illusion?

“…These colors were chosen based on dogs' dichromatism, as they demonstrate wavelength sensitivities of blue at a spectral peak of 555 nm and yellow at 429 nm (Jacobs et al, 1993;Neitz, Geist, & Jacobs, 1989). Three circle stimuli were used, which were constructed from an array of 12 circles used previously to test transpositions in pigeons (Lazareva, Miner, Wasserman, & Young, 2008;Lazareva, Wasserman, & Young, 2005;Lazareva, Young, & Wasserman, 2014) and illusion susceptibility in this same group of dogs . These specific stimuli were chosen as they represented a systematic array of figures.…”