Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026
A Method for Investigating Change Blindness in Pigeons Columba Livia
Published on: September 7, 2018
Stimulus control in a go/no-go procedure with compound stimuli with pigeons
Heloísa C Campos1, Paula Debert1, Karen Lionello-DeNolf2
1National Institute of Science and Technology on Behavior, Cognition, and Teaching, Federal University of São Carlos, Departamento de Psicologia, Laboratório de Estudos do Comportamento Humano, Rodovia Washington Luís, km 235, São Carlos, SP 13565-905, Brazil; University of São Paulo, Department of Experimental Psychology, Av. Prof. Mello Moraes, 1721, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil.
Pigeons’ ability to discriminate compound stimuli is tested by altering component positions. Results suggest that changes in stimulus element arrangement, such as rotation or separation, can impair discrimination performance in pigeons.
Area of Science:
- Animal Cognition
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Comparative Psychology
Background:
- Previous research established pigeon discrimination of compound stimuli in a go/no-go task.
- Pigeons responded consistently to 180° rotated compounds (BA, CB) but not recombined ones (AC, CA).
- The control of these responses (conditional vs. simple discrimination) remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether pigeons maintain discrimination performance when compound stimulus components are spatially altered.
- To assess the impact of component rotation and separation on established compound stimulus discrimination.
Main Methods:
- Four pigeons from a prior study were tested on previously learned compound stimuli.
- Stimuli were modified by 90° rotation (left/right), 1cm separation, or both.
- Discrimination performance was evaluated across four distinct test conditions.
Main Results:
- One pigeon (P11) consistently maintained discrimination across all spatial manipulation tests.
- Other pigeons showed varied maintenance of discrimination depending on the specific spatial alteration.
- Performance declined when stimulus elements were further separated or rotated 180°.
Conclusions:
- Pigeon discrimination of compound stimuli is sensitive to spatial transformations of component elements.
- Significant spatial changes, particularly increased separation and 180° rotation, disrupt established discriminations.
- Findings suggest that spatial configuration plays a crucial role in how pigeons process compound stimuli.
