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Published on: February 8, 2019
A category-overshadowing effect in pigeons: support for the Common Elements Model of object categorization learning
Fabian A Soto1, Edward A Wasserman
1Sage Center for the Study of the Mind, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. fabian.soto@psych.ucsb.edu
Summary
This study reveals a category-overshadowing effect in pigeons, where learning object categories is hindered by redundant category information. This finding supports a model of error-driven learning across species.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Animal Behavior
- Machine Learning
Background:
- Error-driven learning models explain object categorization in animals.
- These models predict widespread learning processes across species, including humans and pigeons.
- Previous research confirmed model predictions in interspecies comparisons.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate a novel behavioral phenomenon, category overshadowing, in pigeons' natural object categorization.
- To test predictions derived from an error-driven learning model.
- To explore the role of stimulus category information in associative learning.
Main Methods:
- Pigeons were trained to categorize natural objects.
- A category-overshadowing paradigm was implemented, introducing redundant category information.
- Control conditions assessed the impact of uninformative category membership versus informative category membership.
Main Results:
- Pigeon object categorization learning was impaired when a second category provided redundant information.
- This impairment, termed category overshadowing, was specific to informative redundant categories.
- The effect differed from simple overshadowing, indicating competition at the category level.
Conclusions:
- The findings provide evidence for category overshadowing in pigeons, a novel phenomenon.
- This supports the proposed error-driven learning model and its cross-species applicability.
- The results highlight competition among stimulus categories during associative learning.
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