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Transfer across delayed discriminations: II. Differences in the substitutability of initial versus test stimuli
P J Urcuioli1, T B DeMarse, T R Zentall
1Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1364, USA. uche@psych.purdue.edu
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes
|January 24, 1998
Summary
Pigeons learned to distinguish signals for rewards after a delay. Initial signals transferred to new tasks, but test signals only worked within the specific memory task training.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Animal Behavior
- Learning and Memory
Background:
- Delayed simple discriminations involve stimuli signaling outcomes after a retention interval.
- Understanding how pigeons process and transfer information in delayed tasks is crucial for cognitive research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the transfer of discriminative responding in delayed simple discriminations.
- To determine the role of initial versus test stimuli in pigeons' performance on delayed tasks.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments trained pigeons on delayed simple discriminations.
- Transfer tests were conducted using novel stimuli and varying reinforcement histories.
Main Results:
- Discriminative responding transferred to novel test stimuli trained in a different delayed discrimination, but not to stimuli with off-baseline reinforcement history.
- Performance transferred to novel initial stimuli regardless of on-baseline or off-baseline training.
Conclusions:
- Test stimuli in delayed simple discriminations gain control over responding specifically within the memory task.
- Control by initial stimuli, potentially as outcome expectancies, does not necessitate task-specific training.
