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Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning
Published on: June 2, 2014
Pigeons (Columba livia) fail to connect dots in learning biological motion
Eriko Yamamoto1, Kazuhiro Goto, Shigeru Watanabe
1The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, eyamamoto@ardbeg.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
Abstract:
Biological motion point-light displays provide a powerful method for studying motion perception. Nonhuman animals are capable of discriminating point-light displays, but it remains unknown how they perceive biological motion in these displays. We trained two groups of pigeons to discriminate video stimuli using two different classification rules. The motion-congruent group was trained to discriminate full-detail and corresponding point-light displays of pigeons from full-detail and point-light displays of humans. The motion-incongruent group was trained to discriminate full-detail pigeons and point-light humans from the other displays. Both groups acquired the discrimination. When tested with novel displays, pigeons showed good transfer of learning. Transfer was poorest with the point-light displays in the motion-congruent group. The results indicate that the pigeons failed to make the connection between the full-detail displays and their point-light counterparts even when the common motion was available as a cue.
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