Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Numerosity discrimination: both time and number matter

J G Fetterman1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis 46202-3275.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes
|April 1, 1993
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Scaling of events spaced in time.

Behavioural processes·2014
Same author

Changing rates of reinforcement perturbs the flow of time.

Behavioural processes·2014
Same author

Pair comparison of durations.

Behavioural processes·2014
Same author

A temporal intermediate stimulus problem.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·1998
Same author

Judging relative duration: the role of rule and instructional variables.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·1996
Same author

Dimensions of stimulus complexity.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·1996
Same journal

The fate of redundant cues in human predictive learning.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·2013
Same journal

The adaptive analysis of visual cognition using genetic algorithms.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·2013
Same journal

Active change detection by pigeons and humans.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·2013
Same journal

Renewal effects in interference between outcomes as measured by a cued response reaction time task: further evidence for associative retrieval models.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·2013
Same journal

Pigeons use low rather than high spatial frequency information to make visual category discriminations.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·2013
Same journal

Associative models of instrumental learning: a response to Dupuis and Dawson.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·2013
See all related articles

Pigeons discriminate between numerical ratios using a scalar counting principle, similar to how they process time. Both number and time influence their choices, with individual differences in reliance on each factor.

Area of Science:

  • Animal behavior
  • Comparative cognition
  • Psychophysics

Background:

  • Pigeons (Columba livia) are widely used models for studying cognitive processes.
  • Understanding how animals perceive and discriminate numerical quantities is crucial for comparative cognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate pigeons' ability to discriminate between fixed ratios.
  • To determine the influence of absolute and relative ratio size on discrimination.
  • To examine the interplay between numerical and temporal information in choice behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Pigeons were trained on a psychophysical choice task involving fixed ratios.
  • Probe ratios intermediate to training requirements were used for testing.
  • Ratio size (absolute and relative) and response time were systematically varied.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Multiple regression analysis was employed to predict choice based on ratio value and time.

    • Main Results:

    • Psychophysical analysis indicated a scalar counting principle for numerosity discrimination in pigeons.
    • Both numerical and temporal factors significantly contributed to the discrimination of ratio value.
    • A transfer test revealed individual differences in the reliance on temporal versus numerical cues.

    Conclusions:

    • Pigeons utilize a scalar counting mechanism for discriminating numerical quantities.
    • Choice behavior in pigeons is influenced by both the number of responses and the time taken to emit them.
    • There is variability among individual pigeons in their weighting of numerical versus temporal information.