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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning
Published on: June 2, 2014
Memory processing of serial lists by pigeons, monkeys, and people
A A Wright1, H C Santiago, S F Sands
1Sensory Sciences Center, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston 77030, USA.
Abstract:
List memory of pigeons, monkeys, and humans was tested with lists of four visual items (travel slides for animals and kaleidoscope patterns for humans). Retention interval increases for list-item memory revealed a consistent modification of the serial-position function shape: a monotonically increasing function at the shortest interval, a U-shaped function at intermediate intervals, and a monotonically decreasing function at the longest interval. The time course of these changes was fastest for pigeons, intermediate for monkeys, and slowest for humans.
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