Oddity learning in the pigeon as a function of the number of incorrect alternatives.

Zentall, Thomas R.; Hogan, David E.; Edwards, Charles A.; Hearst, Eliot

doi:10.1037/0097-7403.6.3.278

Cited by 30 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Zentall, Hogan, Edwards, and Hearst (1980) found that oddity learning in pigeons was enhanced by a manyitem display, and they suggested the enhancement of figure-ground relations as a possible influence. Something of this sort may be involved in the present instance, although further information is required in order to define its nature more specifically.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pigeon discrimination of letters and other forms in texture displays

Blough

Franklin

1985

Perception & Psychophysics

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In four experiments, pigeons searched for a 3 x 3 matrix of small, identical forms within a 9 x 15 matrix composed of other repeated forms. In each session, all possible pairs of forms appeared. Percent correct and reaction time data were recorded. The stimulus sets comprised the letters of the alphabet (Experiment 1), U-shaped forms in four orientations (Experiment 2),15 abstract forms composed of identical line segments (Experiment 3), and 3 abstract forms in four orientations (Experiment 4). Reaction times were relatively constant and uninformative. Percent correct data were analyzed by correlation, scaling, and cluster methods. The letter data correlated highly (r =.89) with results from a previous study in which letters were learned as individual targets; scaling and cluster results were also very similar for the two data sets. The data for rotated Us also corresponded with previous single-target results; matrices composed of mirror-image forms were very difficult to discriminate. The data for abstract forms suggested that connectedness, orientation, and symmetry are important determiners of discrimination in this situation. Taken together, the results identify a number offeatures significant for pigeon form discrimination; these features include relationally defined aspects, and suggest that processes controlling discriminability here do not differ markedly from those controlling discriminability in more common learning paradigms. The method is efficient and equates exposure of test stimuli, thus minimizing the sequential effects found when stimuli are learned serially.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pigeon discrimination of letters and other forms in texture displays

Blough

Franklin

1985

Perception & Psychophysics

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“…Although the subjects had success learning the problem, the author characterizes the traditional oddity problem as a series of reversals and prefers a perceptual interpretation to an abstract interpretation but provides no specifics of the perceptual mechanism. Zentall et al (1980) conducted a series of traditional oddity experiments with pigeons in which the number of incorrect alternatives varied from 2 to 24. The pigeons were presented with differently colored keylights and were rewarded with food for choosing the odd color whose position was balanced or varied over trials.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relational learning in honeybees (Apis mellifera): Oddity and nonoddity discrimination

Muszynski

Couvillon

2015

Behavioural Processes

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“…Some previous research has found that displays with large numbers of distractors can generate beneficial effects of visual oddity (Zentall, Hogan, Edwards, & Hearst, 1980). If so, the displays in this vicinity may have benefited from this kind of oddity, indicating a potential type of secondary solution to the task.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visualizing search behavior with adaptive discriminations

Cook

Qadri

2014

Behavioural Processes

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We examined different aspects of the visual search behavior of a pigeon using an open-ended, adaptive testing procedure controlled by a genetic algorithm. The animal had to accurately search for and peck a gray target element randomly located from among a variable number of surrounding darker and lighter distractor elements. Display composition was controlled by a genetic algorithm involving the multivariate configuration of different parameters or genes (number of distractors, element size, shape, spacing, target brightness, and distractor brightness). Sessions were composed of random displays, testing randomized combinations of these genes, and selected displays, representing the varied descendants of displays correctly identified by the pigeon. Testing a larger number of random displays than done previously, it was found that the bird’s solution to the search task was highly stable and did not change with extensive experience in the task. The location and shape of this attractor was visualized using multivariate behavioral surfaces in which element size and the number of distractors were the most important factors controlling search accuracy and search time. The resulting visualizations of the bird’s search behavior are discussed with reference to the potential of using adaptive, open-ended experimental techniques for investigating animal cognition and their implications for Bond and Kamil’s innovative development of virtual ecologies using an analogous methodology.

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Oddity learning in the pigeon as a function of the number of incorrect alternatives.

Cited by 30 publications

References 21 publications

Pigeon discrimination of letters and other forms in texture displays

Pigeon discrimination of letters and other forms in texture displays

Relational learning in honeybees (Apis mellifera): Oddity and nonoddity discrimination

Visualizing search behavior with adaptive discriminations

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