Multiple-pair training enhances transposition in pigeons

Abstract

174For 7 decades, Kenneth W. Spence's (1937) theory of discrimination learning has provided an elegant and sometimes counterintuitive account of several important behavioral phenomena, including transposition, which was first explored by Köhler (1918Köhler ( /1938. In a typical transposition task, a subject may be given a single pair of simultaneously presented stimuli (e.g., a 3-cm circle and a 4-cm circle) and may be required to select the smaller one (the 3-cm circle). Originally, transposition was said to occur if the subject selected the smaller, relationally correct item in a novel pair of stimuli (e.g., a 2-cm circle and a 3-cm circle), instead of the previously reinforced stimulus (the 3-cm circle). We will term the choice of the relationally correct stimulus a transposition response and the choice of the relationally incorrect stimulus an absolute response.Spence's (1937) stimulus generalization theory explained choice of the relationally correct stimulus with interacting gradients of excitation and inhibition, which arose from absolute stimulus-response tendencies. The theory is based on three simple premises. (1) When a stimulus is associated with reinforcement, a gradient of excitation develops around it; maximal excitation is produced by the training stimulus, with orderly decreases in excitation occurring as stimuli are increasingly removed from it.(2) When a stimulus is associated with nonreinforcement, a less peaked and broader gradient of inhibition develops around it, with orderly decreases in inhibition occurring as stimuli are increasingly removed from it. (3) If the S and the S lie along the same stimulus dimension, then in order to predict responding to any given stimulus, one algebraically sums its excitatory value (on the excitatory gradient) with its inhibitory value (on the inhibitory gradient); doing so along the entire dimension yields a theoretical or derived postdiscrimination stimulus generalization gradient.It is precisely through the algebraic summation of excitation and inhibition that Spence's (1937) theory predicts choice of the relationally correct stimulus. This summation may result in maximal net excitation (and hence, conditioned responding) not at the S , but rather at a point displaced away from the S (e.g., the 2-cm circle, instead of the previously reinforced 3-cm circle). In essence, Spence (1937) proposed that the choice of the previously untrained stimulus over the former S may be no more relational than the tendency to approach S and the tendency to avoid S . Later, peak shift (reviewed by Purtle, 1973) was experimentally documented, providing further support for Spence's (1937) theory.Note that peak shift is not a necessary consequence of discrimination training. For example, when the training stimuli are widely spaced along the sensory dimension (in other words, when the training stimuli are highly dissimilar), a summation of excitatory and inhibitory gradients does not produce a peak shift, a result that has been We studied transposition in pigeons by training t...

The long and the short of it: Rule-based relative length discrimination in carrion crows, Corvus corone

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Stability of the guinea pigs personality – cognition – linkage over time

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Relational Learning in Glaucous-Winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens)

“…In order to assess the level of generalization possessed by the gulls concerning the relative features we used two types of transfer tests: transfer to novel stimuli of the same category and transfer to novel stimuli of novel category (Wilson et al, 1985). The ability to transfer to stimuli of the same category (insignificantly differing from those used during training) is shown not only for large-brained representatives of a class of birds -crows and parrots (Koehler, 1956;Pepperberg, 1987Pepperberg, , 2000Wilson et al, 1985), but also for pigeons -birds with a low level of brain structure that have a Portmann Index (Portmann, 1947) the same as gulls, approximately corresponding to a four (Emery, 2006;Lazareva et al, 2008;Zentall et al, 2008;Wright & Delius, 2005). For example, pigeons trained to select coloured boxes by similarity, in the transfer tests successfully selected novel stimuli not used during the training (Katz & Wright, 2006).…”