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Pigeons acquire the 1-back task: Implications for implicit versus explicit learning?

Alexandra Nosarzewska¹, Daniel N Peng¹, Thomas R Zentall²

¹Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506-0044, USA.

Learning & Behavior

|March 17, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Pigeons can learn tasks using the 1-back procedure, where reinforcement is delayed. This challenges theories suggesting such delays prevent implicit learning in nonverbal animals.

Keywords:

1-back procedure Explicit learning Implicit learning Matching-to-sample

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Area of Science:

Comparative psychology
Animal cognition
Learning and memory

Background:

A distinction exists between implicit (associative) and explicit (declarative) learning in humans.
This distinction is debated in nonverbal animals, particularly using delayed reinforcement methods like the 1-back procedure.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate if pigeons can learn using the 1-back procedure.
To examine the role of correction procedures in 1-back learning.
To assess whether 1-back learning in pigeons supports explicit or implicit learning theories.

Main Methods:

Pigeons were trained on a red/green 1-back matching task with and without a correction procedure.
A second experiment used new pigeons with the correction procedure.
A third experiment employed symbolic 1-back matching with different conditional and choice stimuli.

Main Results:

Pigeons demonstrated learning in the 1-back matching task, especially when a correction procedure was used.
All pigeons showed evidence of learning with the correction procedure.
Symbolic 1-back matching was also successfully learned by new pigeons.

Conclusions:

Pigeons are capable of learning tasks with delayed reinforcement via the 1-back procedure.
The findings suggest that the 1-back procedure may not adequately differentiate between implicit and explicit learning in pigeons.
This challenges previous assertions that long delays in 1-back tasks preclude implicit associative learning.