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Related Experiment Videos

Why are artificial polymorphous concepts so hard for birds to learn?

Stephen E G Lea1, A J Wills, Catriona M E Ryan

  • 1School of Psychology, University of Exeter, UK. s.e.g.lea@exeter.ac.uk

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|April 19, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Artificial polymorphous concepts are poor models for natural concept learning in chickens. Unreliable reinforcement and high attentional load explain concept discrimination difficulty.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive psychology
  • Animal behavior
  • Comparative cognition

Background:

  • Artificial polymorphous concepts are used to study natural concept discrimination in humans and animals.
  • These artificial concepts often present discrimination difficulties.
  • Potential factors include stimulus complexity, unreliable reinforcement, attentional load, and memory load.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the factors contributing to the difficulty of discriminating artificial polymorphous concepts.
  • To determine if unreliable reinforcement and attentional load adequately explain discrimination difficulty in chickens.
  • To evaluate the suitability of artificial polymorphous concepts as models for natural concept learning in birds.

Main Methods:

  • Chickens were trained on complex artificial visual stimulus sets.

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  • Discriminations were designed to isolate specific properties like unreliable reinforcement and high attentional load.
  • Performance was compared to polymorphous concept discriminations.

    • Main Results:

    • Discriminations involving unreliable reinforcement or high attentional load were as difficult as polymorphous concept discriminations.
    • These two factors, unreliable reinforcement and attentional load, fully accounted for the observed difficulty.
    • Chickens' performance suggests limitations in using artificial polymorphous concepts to model natural concept learning.

    Conclusions:

    • Unreliable reinforcement and high attentional load are key factors in concept discrimination difficulty.
    • Artificial polymorphous concepts may not be ideal models for how birds perceive and discriminate natural concepts.
    • RULEX (Rule-Exceptional) learning models may offer a better framework for understanding natural concept acquisition in birds.