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Related Experiment Videos

Short-term memory for responses: the "choose-small" effect.

J G Fetterman1, D MacEwen

  • 1Arizona State University.

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|November 1, 1989
PubMed
Summary
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Pigeons showed a bias towards choosing smaller fixed-ratio requirements when memory was delayed. This "choose-small" bias increased with longer delays, indicating short-term memory effects on choice behavior.

Area of Science:

  • Animal Cognition
  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Comparative Psychology

Background:

  • Understanding short-term memory in non-human animals is crucial for cognitive research.
  • Fixed-ratio schedules are fundamental in operant conditioning, but their memory demands are less explored.
  • Previous research suggests biases in choice behavior based on stimulus properties like duration.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate pigeons' short-term memory capacity for fixed-ratio (FR) requirements.
  • To determine if memory delays influence choice behavior between different FR schedules.
  • To explore the nature of the observed "choose-small" bias in pigeons.

Main Methods:

  • A delayed symbolic matching-to-sample procedure was employed with pigeons.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Birds were trained on two fixed-ratio schedules (FR10 and FR40) with varying delays (0, 5, 20s) between sample and choice.
  • "No-sample" trials and houselight manipulations were used to further probe choice biases.

    • Main Results:

    • Pigeons exhibited a significant bias towards the smaller fixed-ratio (FR10) alternative when delays were present.
    • This "choose-small" bias intensified as the delay interval increased.
    • The bias was also evident on "no-sample" trials and was partially reduced by a houselight cue during delays.

    Conclusions:

    • Pigeons demonstrate a short-term memory deficit for fixed-ratio requirements, leading to a "choose-small" bias.
    • This bias is sensitive to the duration of the memory delay, suggesting temporal decay or interference.
    • The findings provide insights into the temporal dynamics of memory in avian decision-making.