Masako Jitsumori - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Masako Jitsumori
Journal of experimental psychology, 1989
Springer eBooks, 2008
One of the most important attributes of cognitive activities in both human and nonhuman animals i... more One of the most important attributes of cognitive activities in both human and nonhuman animals is the ability to recognize individual objects and to categorize a variety of objects that share some properties. Wild-living spider monkeys, for example, individually recognize their partners and a large number of other conspecifics quickly and accurately regardless of their highly variable spatial attitudes and also discriminate them from other species (T. Delius, personal observation). Object recognition and object categorization are both equally vital for most of the advanced animals. The retinal image of an object varies as a function of orientations, distances, lighting conditions, background scenes, and so forth at the time of viewing. Invariance operations are required for animals to identify objects despite variability of retinal stimulation. Observers may recognize the differences in orientation, location, size, and other aspects, but these differences do not obscure the identity of the objects. On the other hand, animals categorize a large number of individual objects into the same classes. There is little or no doubt that animals categorize natural objects sharing some properties, such as edible, water-offering, mateable, threatening, and so forth. The ability for animals to categorize objects enables them to learn about their environments economically with a drastic decrease in the stimulus information that they have to cope with. The processes that underlie object recognition and object categorization may well differ, but both require a common response to a variety of visual inputs. Pooling of a plurality of sensory inputs into fewer but more comprehensive signals is of great ecological relevance for animals. How and to what extent is such information pooling accomplished by animals?
Japanese Psychological Research, 1984
Each of four pigeons was exposed first to a standard fixed-interval schedule.With the interval by... more Each of four pigeons was exposed first to a standard fixed-interval schedule.With the interval by making a response on a second key,the start key.These manipulations were carried out under four different fixed-interval durations ranging from 30 to 240 s,and resulting performances on both schedules were compared.The two-manipulandum fixed-interval schedule produced break-and-run pattern of responding rather than scalloping.The pigeons pecked once on the start key after pause,and then emitted a high and constant rate of responding on the FI key immediately after the FI key went on.The post-reinforcement pause increased as a negatively accelerated function of fixed-interval duration on the standard schedule,but in contrast,the pause occupied a constant proportion of fixed-interval duration on the twomanipulandum fixed-interval schedule.One set of non-temporal factors not commonly shared by the schedules could be attributed to the difference in pattern of responding as well as pause/ interval relation.
Behavioural Processes, Dec 1, 1996
In Experiment 1, pigeons trained to discriminate rightside-up and upside-down orientations of sli... more In Experiment 1, pigeons trained to discriminate rightside-up and upside-down orientations of slides of natural scenes with humans successfully transferred to new slides of the same kind. Experiment 2 revealed that both the orientations of the human figures and of the background scenes controlled the discrimination. When they were oppositely oriented, the background orientation cue was dominant. In Experiment 3 slides showing objects on a white background were presented either rightside up or upside down, with each slide presented in one orientation only. One group of pigeons learned to classify the slides according to their orientations. The other group learned to classify the slides according to arbitrary groupings. When the slides were shown rotated by 180 degrees, the latter group continued to discriminate the individual slides (i.e., the pigeons showed orientation invariance). The former group classified the rotated slides according to their orientations (i.e., orientation discrimination). In Experiment 4, pigeons learned the orientation discrimination with separate sets of human and bird figures. Partial reversal training in one object class transferred to the rest of stimuli in this object class but did not to the other object class. These results suggest that pigeons can learn to discriminate photographs on the basis of orientation but that orientation-based equivalence relationship is not formed between object classes.
Journal of experimental psychology, 1988
TRENDS IN THE SCIENCES, 2011
Japanese Journal of Psychology, 1994
Japanese Journal of Animal Psychology, 2000
Behavioural Processes, Feb 1, 2013
We trained seven pigeons to discriminate arrays of 8 identical icons that made small random movem... more We trained seven pigeons to discriminate arrays of 8 identical icons that made small random movements in the same direction (coherent movement) from arrays of 8 identical icons that made small random movements in different directions (incoherent movement), with each icon moving within its own cell in an invisible 4×4 grid. During initial training, one specific configuration of icons (a fixed array) was used. The pigeons learned this discrimination and were later trained with successively introduced novel fixed arrays, and finally with novel arrays of random spatial arrangements (random arrays). Four pigeons successfully learned the final version of the task and were tested with random arrays containing different numbers of icons (from 2 to 12). Discrimination accuracy rose as the number of icons increased. These and other findings suggested that the pigeons had discriminated the visual displays by relying on the relative motion of the icons. Nevertheless, motion signals from individual icons (i.e., absolute motion) did interfere with discriminative performance to arrays of coherently moving icons. These results were considered in light of findings from another experiment in which pigeons had to search for a static icon among identical icons that moved coherently or incoherently as in the present study.
Japanese Psychological Research, 1976
Two anomaloscope experiments were conducted to test color mixture in the pigeon. In Experiment I,... more Two anomaloscope experiments were conducted to test color mixture in the pigeon. In Experiment I, red-green mixtures were paired with the yellow stimulus and testing occurred in a yes/no signal-detection procedure. Results were analysed by Luce's signal detectability model and the stimulus similarity 77 for each pair was calculated. In Experiment II, pigeons were required to make responses in a paired comparison procedure and the scaled subjective value v was calculated. Both n and v of the mixed colors changed according to the change in the ratio of the red and green components with a peak at a certain mixture ratio. It is concluded that the present study gave us clear evidence for color mixture in the pigeon.
Japanese Journal of Psychology, 2001
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Apr 1, 1999
In a computer-assisted sentence completion task, the effects of grammar instruction and fluency t... more In a computer-assisted sentence completion task, the effects of grammar instruction and fluency training on learning the use of the definite and indefinite articles of English were examined. Forty-eight native Japanese-speaking students were assigned to four groups: with grammar/accuracy (G/A), without grammar/accuracy (N/A), with grammar/fluency (G/F), and without grammar/fluency (N/F). In the G/A and N/A groups, training continued until performance reached 100% accuracy (accuracy criterion). In the G/F and N/F groups, training continued until 100% accuracy was reached and the correct responses were made at a high speed (fluency criterion). Grammar instruction was given to participants in the G/A and G/F groups but not to those in the N/A and N/F groups. Generalization to new sentences was tested immediately after reaching the required criterion. High levels of generalization occurred, regardless of the type of mastery criterion and whether the grammar instruction was given. Retention tests were conducted 4, 6, and 8 weeks after training. Fluency training effectively improved retention of the performance attained without the grammar instruction. This effect was diminished when grammar instruction was given during training. Learning grammatical rules was not necessary for the generalized use of appropriate definite and indefinite articles or for the maintenance of the performance attained through fluency training. For native speakers of Japanese, the article system is one of the most difficult aspects of English to learn. Because there are no definite and indefinite articles in Japanese, some researchers attribute this learning difficulty to the difference in the grammatical structure between the two languages (Lane, 1981; Master, 1990; Tomiyama, 1980). In general, the research conducted in such fields as English as a second language This research was supported by Grant 05206113 from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture to M. Jitsumori. We are grateful to Ayano Yagasaki and Miho Onaya for their collaborations in some of the phases of this research. We also thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback in revising this paper.
Japanese Psychological Research, 1978
Primates, Oct 1, 1991
Monkeys and pigeons were trained to discriminate between normally oriented full frontal pictures ... more Monkeys and pigeons were trained to discriminate between normally oriented full frontal pictures of humans and upside-down reversals of the same pictures as stimuli. Monkeys displayed a high level of transfer to the new pictures of full frontal and rear views of humans and silhouettes, but failed to transfer to the close-up and far human faces. Pigeons showed poorer transfer
Japanese Journal of Psychology, 1989
Behavioural Processes, 2011
A comparative study was conducted to investigate whether the search for a target letter was facil... more A comparative study was conducted to investigate whether the search for a target letter was facilitated when the target and prime (preceding stimulus) letters were identical. Pigeons (Section 2) and human participants (Section 3) were first trained to search for "A" among "Y"s and "E" among "D"s in a condition in which a square shape appeared as the prime (Neutral condition). In subsequent testing, a prime was identical either to the corresponding target (Target-priming condition) or to the distractor (Distractor-priming condition). Humans and pigeons responded differently to the two priming conditions. On early trials, the Target prime facilitated search in humans, reducing reaction times (RTs) to targets. In pigeons, however, RTs were longer with Target primes, suggesting that pre-exposure to target letters may directly inhibit the search for targets in subsequent search displays. Furthermore, pre-exposure to the distractor letters may inhibit the processing of the distractor. On later trials, RTs of humans were faster in both priming conditions than in the Neutral condition, suggesting that expectation of a target facilitated search ("Y" predicted "A" and "D" predicted "E"). In contrast, the pigeons showed no evidence of expectation-based facilitation, with constant slowing effects of the Target prime extending across sessions. Possible mechanisms underlying such a slowing priming effect in pigeons were discussed.
The Japanese Journal of Psychonomic Science, Sep 30, 2004
Japanese Psychological Research, Sep 1, 2004
Recent studies on categorization and concept learning in nonhuman animals are described, sketchin... more Recent studies on categorization and concept learning in nonhuman animals are described, sketching studies in Japan on the background of contemporary developments of the research field. The topics included are (1) similarity-based perceptual concepts (open-ended categories, categorical coherence, synthetic approach, prototype effects, levels of categorization); (2) functional equivalence between category members; and (3) non-similarity-based associative concepts (Sidman equivalence, mediated equivalence, emergent differential sample behavior, emergent matching by exclusion, integration of equivalence relations). The review suggests that studies in this field are continuing to contribute in the understanding of animal cognitive behavior and also to the contemporary developments of comparative psychology. The issues left open for future research are illustrated.
Journal of experimental psychology, 1989
Springer eBooks, 2008
One of the most important attributes of cognitive activities in both human and nonhuman animals i... more One of the most important attributes of cognitive activities in both human and nonhuman animals is the ability to recognize individual objects and to categorize a variety of objects that share some properties. Wild-living spider monkeys, for example, individually recognize their partners and a large number of other conspecifics quickly and accurately regardless of their highly variable spatial attitudes and also discriminate them from other species (T. Delius, personal observation). Object recognition and object categorization are both equally vital for most of the advanced animals. The retinal image of an object varies as a function of orientations, distances, lighting conditions, background scenes, and so forth at the time of viewing. Invariance operations are required for animals to identify objects despite variability of retinal stimulation. Observers may recognize the differences in orientation, location, size, and other aspects, but these differences do not obscure the identity of the objects. On the other hand, animals categorize a large number of individual objects into the same classes. There is little or no doubt that animals categorize natural objects sharing some properties, such as edible, water-offering, mateable, threatening, and so forth. The ability for animals to categorize objects enables them to learn about their environments economically with a drastic decrease in the stimulus information that they have to cope with. The processes that underlie object recognition and object categorization may well differ, but both require a common response to a variety of visual inputs. Pooling of a plurality of sensory inputs into fewer but more comprehensive signals is of great ecological relevance for animals. How and to what extent is such information pooling accomplished by animals?
Japanese Psychological Research, 1984
Each of four pigeons was exposed first to a standard fixed-interval schedule.With the interval by... more Each of four pigeons was exposed first to a standard fixed-interval schedule.With the interval by making a response on a second key,the start key.These manipulations were carried out under four different fixed-interval durations ranging from 30 to 240 s,and resulting performances on both schedules were compared.The two-manipulandum fixed-interval schedule produced break-and-run pattern of responding rather than scalloping.The pigeons pecked once on the start key after pause,and then emitted a high and constant rate of responding on the FI key immediately after the FI key went on.The post-reinforcement pause increased as a negatively accelerated function of fixed-interval duration on the standard schedule,but in contrast,the pause occupied a constant proportion of fixed-interval duration on the twomanipulandum fixed-interval schedule.One set of non-temporal factors not commonly shared by the schedules could be attributed to the difference in pattern of responding as well as pause/ interval relation.
Behavioural Processes, Dec 1, 1996
In Experiment 1, pigeons trained to discriminate rightside-up and upside-down orientations of sli... more In Experiment 1, pigeons trained to discriminate rightside-up and upside-down orientations of slides of natural scenes with humans successfully transferred to new slides of the same kind. Experiment 2 revealed that both the orientations of the human figures and of the background scenes controlled the discrimination. When they were oppositely oriented, the background orientation cue was dominant. In Experiment 3 slides showing objects on a white background were presented either rightside up or upside down, with each slide presented in one orientation only. One group of pigeons learned to classify the slides according to their orientations. The other group learned to classify the slides according to arbitrary groupings. When the slides were shown rotated by 180 degrees, the latter group continued to discriminate the individual slides (i.e., the pigeons showed orientation invariance). The former group classified the rotated slides according to their orientations (i.e., orientation discrimination). In Experiment 4, pigeons learned the orientation discrimination with separate sets of human and bird figures. Partial reversal training in one object class transferred to the rest of stimuli in this object class but did not to the other object class. These results suggest that pigeons can learn to discriminate photographs on the basis of orientation but that orientation-based equivalence relationship is not formed between object classes.
Journal of experimental psychology, 1988
TRENDS IN THE SCIENCES, 2011
Japanese Journal of Psychology, 1994
Japanese Journal of Animal Psychology, 2000
Behavioural Processes, Feb 1, 2013
We trained seven pigeons to discriminate arrays of 8 identical icons that made small random movem... more We trained seven pigeons to discriminate arrays of 8 identical icons that made small random movements in the same direction (coherent movement) from arrays of 8 identical icons that made small random movements in different directions (incoherent movement), with each icon moving within its own cell in an invisible 4×4 grid. During initial training, one specific configuration of icons (a fixed array) was used. The pigeons learned this discrimination and were later trained with successively introduced novel fixed arrays, and finally with novel arrays of random spatial arrangements (random arrays). Four pigeons successfully learned the final version of the task and were tested with random arrays containing different numbers of icons (from 2 to 12). Discrimination accuracy rose as the number of icons increased. These and other findings suggested that the pigeons had discriminated the visual displays by relying on the relative motion of the icons. Nevertheless, motion signals from individual icons (i.e., absolute motion) did interfere with discriminative performance to arrays of coherently moving icons. These results were considered in light of findings from another experiment in which pigeons had to search for a static icon among identical icons that moved coherently or incoherently as in the present study.
Japanese Psychological Research, 1976
Two anomaloscope experiments were conducted to test color mixture in the pigeon. In Experiment I,... more Two anomaloscope experiments were conducted to test color mixture in the pigeon. In Experiment I, red-green mixtures were paired with the yellow stimulus and testing occurred in a yes/no signal-detection procedure. Results were analysed by Luce's signal detectability model and the stimulus similarity 77 for each pair was calculated. In Experiment II, pigeons were required to make responses in a paired comparison procedure and the scaled subjective value v was calculated. Both n and v of the mixed colors changed according to the change in the ratio of the red and green components with a peak at a certain mixture ratio. It is concluded that the present study gave us clear evidence for color mixture in the pigeon.
Japanese Journal of Psychology, 2001
The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, Apr 1, 1999
In a computer-assisted sentence completion task, the effects of grammar instruction and fluency t... more In a computer-assisted sentence completion task, the effects of grammar instruction and fluency training on learning the use of the definite and indefinite articles of English were examined. Forty-eight native Japanese-speaking students were assigned to four groups: with grammar/accuracy (G/A), without grammar/accuracy (N/A), with grammar/fluency (G/F), and without grammar/fluency (N/F). In the G/A and N/A groups, training continued until performance reached 100% accuracy (accuracy criterion). In the G/F and N/F groups, training continued until 100% accuracy was reached and the correct responses were made at a high speed (fluency criterion). Grammar instruction was given to participants in the G/A and G/F groups but not to those in the N/A and N/F groups. Generalization to new sentences was tested immediately after reaching the required criterion. High levels of generalization occurred, regardless of the type of mastery criterion and whether the grammar instruction was given. Retention tests were conducted 4, 6, and 8 weeks after training. Fluency training effectively improved retention of the performance attained without the grammar instruction. This effect was diminished when grammar instruction was given during training. Learning grammatical rules was not necessary for the generalized use of appropriate definite and indefinite articles or for the maintenance of the performance attained through fluency training. For native speakers of Japanese, the article system is one of the most difficult aspects of English to learn. Because there are no definite and indefinite articles in Japanese, some researchers attribute this learning difficulty to the difference in the grammatical structure between the two languages (Lane, 1981; Master, 1990; Tomiyama, 1980). In general, the research conducted in such fields as English as a second language This research was supported by Grant 05206113 from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture to M. Jitsumori. We are grateful to Ayano Yagasaki and Miho Onaya for their collaborations in some of the phases of this research. We also thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback in revising this paper.
Japanese Psychological Research, 1978
Primates, Oct 1, 1991
Monkeys and pigeons were trained to discriminate between normally oriented full frontal pictures ... more Monkeys and pigeons were trained to discriminate between normally oriented full frontal pictures of humans and upside-down reversals of the same pictures as stimuli. Monkeys displayed a high level of transfer to the new pictures of full frontal and rear views of humans and silhouettes, but failed to transfer to the close-up and far human faces. Pigeons showed poorer transfer
Japanese Journal of Psychology, 1989
Behavioural Processes, 2011
A comparative study was conducted to investigate whether the search for a target letter was facil... more A comparative study was conducted to investigate whether the search for a target letter was facilitated when the target and prime (preceding stimulus) letters were identical. Pigeons (Section 2) and human participants (Section 3) were first trained to search for "A" among "Y"s and "E" among "D"s in a condition in which a square shape appeared as the prime (Neutral condition). In subsequent testing, a prime was identical either to the corresponding target (Target-priming condition) or to the distractor (Distractor-priming condition). Humans and pigeons responded differently to the two priming conditions. On early trials, the Target prime facilitated search in humans, reducing reaction times (RTs) to targets. In pigeons, however, RTs were longer with Target primes, suggesting that pre-exposure to target letters may directly inhibit the search for targets in subsequent search displays. Furthermore, pre-exposure to the distractor letters may inhibit the processing of the distractor. On later trials, RTs of humans were faster in both priming conditions than in the Neutral condition, suggesting that expectation of a target facilitated search ("Y" predicted "A" and "D" predicted "E"). In contrast, the pigeons showed no evidence of expectation-based facilitation, with constant slowing effects of the Target prime extending across sessions. Possible mechanisms underlying such a slowing priming effect in pigeons were discussed.
The Japanese Journal of Psychonomic Science, Sep 30, 2004
Japanese Psychological Research, Sep 1, 2004
Recent studies on categorization and concept learning in nonhuman animals are described, sketchin... more Recent studies on categorization and concept learning in nonhuman animals are described, sketching studies in Japan on the background of contemporary developments of the research field. The topics included are (1) similarity-based perceptual concepts (open-ended categories, categorical coherence, synthetic approach, prototype effects, levels of categorization); (2) functional equivalence between category members; and (3) non-similarity-based associative concepts (Sidman equivalence, mediated equivalence, emergent differential sample behavior, emergent matching by exclusion, integration of equivalence relations). The review suggests that studies in this field are continuing to contribute in the understanding of animal cognitive behavior and also to the contemporary developments of comparative psychology. The issues left open for future research are illustrated.