Stagewise Multidimensional Visual Discrimination by Pigeons (original) (raw)
Related papers
Selective attention and pigeons' multiple necessary cues discrimination learning
Behavioural processes, 2015
We deployed the Multiple Necessary Cues (MNC) discrimination task to see if pigeons can simultaneously attend to four different dimensions of complex visual stimuli. Specifically, we trained eight pigeons on a simultaneous discrimination to peck only 1 of 16 compound stimuli created from all possible combinations of two stimulus values from four separable visual dimensions: shape (circle/square), size (large/small), line orientation (horizontal/vertical), and brightness (dark/light). Some pigeons had CLHD (circle, large, horizontal, dark) as the positive stimulus (S+), whereas others had SSVL (square, small, vertical, light) as the S+. All eight pigeons acquired the MNC discrimination, suggesting that they had attended to all four dimensions. Learning rate was similar to all four dimensions, with learning along the orientation dimension being a bit faster than along the other three dimensions. The more dimensions along which the S-s differed from the S+, the faster was learning, sug...
Attentional Trade-offs in Pigeons Learning to Discriminate Newly Relevant Visual Stimulus Dimensions
Learning and Motivation, 2001
Theories of selective attention posit that the amount of attention paid to some stimulus dimensions is inversely related to that paid to others, particularly under demanding task conditions. This ''inverse hypothesis'' and the data that support it have long been controversial. We developed a new, attentionally demanding, stepwise discrimination task to test the inverse hypothesis. Eight pigeons discriminated among 16 visual stimuli consisting of all combinations of four binary dimensions: brightness (black/white), size (large/small), line orientation (vertical/horizontal), and shape (circle/square). Each of four consecutive training phases required attention to one additional, more difficult stimulus dimension. As discriminative dimensions were added, discrimination of previously learned dimensions temporarily worsened in five of the pigeons. We conclude that attending to new dimensions transiently reduced these pigeons' attention to previously learned dimensions. Of the three pigeons that did not show attentional trade-offs, two learned exceptionally quickly, suggesting that the inverse hypothesis predominately prevails under challenging circumstances.
Attentional tradeoffs in the pigeon
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2014
We deployed the Multiple Necessary Cues (MNC) discrimination task to see if pigeons can simultaneously attend to four different dimensions of complex visual stimuli. Specifically, we trained nine pigeons (Columba livia) on a go/no go discrimination to peck only 1 of 16 compound stimuli created from all possible combinations of two stimulus values from four separable visual dimensions: shape (circle/square), size (large/small), line orientation (horizontal/vertical), and brightness (dark/light). Some of the pigeons had CLHD (circle, large, horizontal, dark) as the positive stimulus (Sþ), whereas others had SSVL (square, small, vertical, light) as the Sþ. We recorded touchscreen pecking during the first 15 s that each stimulus was presented on each training trial. Discrimination training continued until pigeons' rates of responding to all 15 negative stimuli (S-s) fell to less than 15% of their response rates to the Sþ. All pigeons acquired the MNC discrimination, suggesting that they attended to all four dimensions of the multidimensional stimuli. Learning rate was similar for all four dimensions, indicating equivalent salience of the discriminative stimuli. The more dimensions along which the S-s differed from the Sþ, the faster was discrimination learning, suggesting an added benefit from increasing perceptual disparities of the S-s from the Sþ. Finally, evidence of attentional tradeoffs among the four dimensions was seen during discrimination learning, raising interesting questions concerning the possible control of behavior by elemental and configural stimuli.
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition, 2018
Two experiments investigated what makes it more likely that pigeons' behavior will come under the control of multiple relevant visual stimulus dimensions. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of stimulus set structure, using a conditional discrimination between circles that differed in both hue and diameter. Two training conditions differed in whether hue and diameter were correlated in the same way within positive and negative stimulus sets as between sets. Transfer tests showed that all pigeons came under the control of both dimensions, regardless of stimulus set structure. Experiment 2 investigated the effect of the relative salience of the stimulus differences on three visual dimensions. Pigeons learned a multiple simultaneous discrimination between circular patches of sinusoidal gratings that differed in hue, orientation, and spatial frequency. In initial training, each stimulus only included one positive or negative feature, and the stimulus differences on the three dimens...
The what and the where of the pigeon's processing of complex visual stimuli
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 1996
Eight pigeons were trained on a go-no go visual discrimination involving 1 S + and 15 S s. The 16 discriminative stimuli were black-and-white line drawings created by the factorial combination of 4 different geometric shapes (wedge, cylinder, cone, handle) in 4 different spatial locations (right, left, above, below) in relation to a common shape (cube). All of the pigeons readily learned this complex visual discrimination. Each bird's pecking behavior was controlled by both attributes of the line drawings, but somewhat stronger stimulus control was exerted by the location of the added component than by its shape. Across all 8 pigeons, there was an inverse relation between stimulus control by component shape and component location. These results document pigeons' joint processing of "what" and "where" information in visual discrimination learning.
Reinforcement learning describes the process by which during a series of trial-and-error attempts, actions that culminate in reward are strengthened. When the actions are based on sensory stimuli, an association is formed between the stimulus, the action and the reward. Computational, behavioral and neurobiological accounts of this process successfully explain simple stimulus-response learning. However, if the cue is multi-dimensional, identifying which of its features are relevant for the reward is not trivial, and the underlying cognitive process is poorly understood. To study this we adapted an intra-dimensional/ extra-dimensional set-shifting paradigm to train rodents on a multidimensional sensory discrimination task. In our setup, stimuli of different modalities (spatial, olfactory and visual) are combined into complex cues and manipulated independently. In each set, only a single stimulus dimension is relevant for reward. To distinguish between learning and decision-making we ...
The Nature of Discrimination Learning In Pigeons
Learning & …, 2008
The results from five experiments are considered in relation to two of Spence’s (1937, 1938) proposals concerning discrimination learning. In Experiments 1 and 2, we investigated whether his ideas about the interaction between excitatory and inhibitory generalization gradients can be used to understand how animals solve a complex patterning discrimination. The results supported a development of his proposals as put forward by Pearce (1994), provided a modification was made to Pearce’s rule for determining the shape of the generalization gradient. In Experiments 3, 4, and 5, we examined whether animals would pay more attention to stimuli that are relevant, rather than irrelevant, to the solution of a discrimination. The results supported this proposal for stimuli comprising visual patterns, but not for those comprising plain colors. The results also indicated that change of attention was a consequence of preliminary receptor-exposure acts, as envisaged by Spence, and not of more central changes in attention.
Animal Learning & Behavior, 1995
In Experiment 1, we used six procedures in a series of unsuccessful attempts to obtain relationallearning using trial-unique pictorial stimuli in pigeons. The Experiment began by testing conventional (three-key) matching-to-sample (MTS)and nonmatching-to-sample (NMTS);in subsequent stages of the experiment we progressively incorporated features of techniques that do obtain relational learning in a single-key apparatus. In Experiment 2, we found that acquisition of NMTS using pictorial stimuli proceeded no more rapidly than acquisition of a conditional discrimination, Experiment 3 showed that acquisition of NMTS was more rapid than acquisition of MTSwhen plain colored stimuli were used, but not when pictorial stimuli were used. These three experiments suggest that pigeons do not recognize pictorial stimuli shown on different keys. In Experiment 4, between-key recognition was obtained with familiar but not with novel pictorial stimuli. It is argued that perceptual learning facilitates the detection of the between-key identity of complex stimuli, and that perceptual processes may underlie the difficulty in demonstrating relationallearning in pigeons.
Brief presentations are sufficient for pigeons to discriminate arrays of same and different stimuli
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2002
Four pigeons first learned to discriminate 16-item arrays of same from different pictorial stimuli. They were then tested with reduced exposure to the pictorial arrays, brought about by changes in the stimulus viewing requirement under fixed-ratio (FR) and fixed-interval (FI) schedules. Increasing the FR requirement enhanced discriminative performance up to 10 pecks; increasing the FI requirement enhanced discriminative performance up to 5 s. Exposures to the stimulus arrays averaging only 2 s supported reliable discrimination. Pigeons thus discriminate same from different stimuli with considerable speed, suggesting that same-different discrimination behavior is of substantial adaptive significance.