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Author Zentall, T.R.; Clement, T.S.; Weaver, J.E.
Title Symmetry training in pigeons can produce functional equivalences Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Psychonomic bulletin & review Abbreviated Journal Psychon Bull Rev
Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 387-391
Keywords Animals; Association; Behavior, Animal; Columbidae; Conditioning (Psychology)/*physiology; Teaching/*methods; *Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract Functional stimulus equivalence has been demonstrated using a transfer of training design with matching-to-sample training in which two sample stimuli are associated with the same comparison stimulus (A-B, C-B; many-to-one matching). Equivalence is shown by training a new association (A-D) and demonstrating the presence of an emergent relation (C-D). In the present experiment, we show that symmetry training, in which a bidirectional association is trained between two stimuli (A-B, B-A, using successive stimulus presentations followed by reinforcement), can also produce functional equivalence using a transfer of training design (i.e., train B-C, test A-C). The results suggest that training pigeons in the substitutability of two stimuli may be sufficient to produce functional stimulus equivalence between them. The results also have implications for the development of an emergent transitive relation, because training on A-B and B-C relations results in the emergence of an untrained A-C relation, if B-A training also is provided.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0044, USA. zentall@pop.uky.edu
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ISSN (down) 1069-9384 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12921414 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 235
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Author Zentall, T.R.; Clement, T.S.; Bhatt, R.S.; Allen, J.
Title Episodic-like memory in pigeons Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Psychonomic bulletin & review Abbreviated Journal Psychon Bull Rev
Volume 8 Issue 4 Pages 685-690
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Memory, Short-Term/*physiology; Teaching
Abstract It has been proposed that memory for personal experiences (episodic memory, rather than semantic memory) relies on the conscious review of past experience and thus is unique to humans. In an attempt to demonstrate episodic-like memory in animals, we first trained pigeons to respond to the (nonverbal) question “Did you just peck or did you just refrain from pecking?” by training them on a symbolic matching task with differential responding required to the two line-orientation samples and reinforcing the choice of a red comparison if they had pecked and the choice of a green comparison if they had not pecked. Then, in Experiment 1, after providing the conditions for (but not requiring) the pigeons to peck at one new stimulus (a yellow hue) but not at another (a blue hue), we tested them with the new hue stimuli and the red and green comparisons. In Experiment 2, we tested the pigeons with novel stimuli (a circle, which they spontaneously pecked, and a dark response key, which they did not peck) and the red and green comparisons. In both experiments, pigeons chose the comparison appropriate to the response made to the test stimulus. Thus, the pigeons demonstrated that they could remember specific details about their past experiences, a result consistent with the notion that they have the capacity for forming episodic-like memories.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA. zentall@pop.uky.edu
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ISSN (down) 1069-9384 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11848586 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 243
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Author Clement, T.S.; Feltus, J.R.; Kaiser, D.H.; Zentall, T.R.
Title “Work ethic” in pigeons: reward value is directly related to the effort or time required to obtain the reward Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Psychonomic bulletin & review Abbreviated Journal Psychon Bull Rev
Volume 7 Issue 1 Pages 100-106
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Cognition/physiology; Columbidae; Discrimination Learning/physiology; Female; Male; Reinforcement (Psychology); *Reward; Time Factors
Abstract Stimuli associated with less effort or with shorter delays to reinforcement are generally preferred over those associated with greater effort or longer delays to reinforcement. However, the opposite appears to be true of stimuli that follow greater effort or longer delays. In training, a simple simultaneous discrimination followed a single peck to an initial stimulus (S+FR1 S-FR1) and a different simple simultaneous discrimination followed 20 pecks to the initial stimulus (S+FR20 S-FR20). On test trials, pigeons preferred S+FR20 over S+FR1 and S-FR20 over S-FR1. These data support the view that the state of the animal immediately prior to presentation of the discrimination affects the value of the reinforcement that follows it. This contrast effect is analogous to effects that when they occur in humans have been attributed to more complex cognitive and social factors.
Address University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN (down) 1069-9384 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:10780022 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 248
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Author Clement, T.S.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Development of a single-code/default coding strategy in pigeons Type Journal Article
Year 2000 Publication Psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society / APS Abbreviated Journal Psychol Sci
Volume 11 Issue 3 Pages 261-264
Keywords Animals; Attention; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; *Pattern Recognition, Visual; *Problem Solving; Retention (Psychology)
Abstract We tested the hypothesis that pigeons could use a cognitively efficient coding strategy by training them on a conditional discrimination (delayed symbolic matching) in which one alternative was correct following the presentation of one sample (one-to-one), whereas the other alternative was correct following the presentation of any one of four other samples (many-to-one). When retention intervals of different durations were inserted between the offset of the sample and the onset of the choice stimuli, divergent retention functions were found. With increasing retention interval, matching accuracy on trials involving any of the many-to-one samples was increasingly better than matching accuracy on trials involving the one-to-one sample. Furthermore, following this test, pigeons treated a novel sample as if it had been one of the many-to-one samples. The data suggest that rather than learning each of the five sample-comparison associations independently, the pigeons developed a cognitively efficient single-code/default coding strategy.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN (down) 0956-7976 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11273414 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 246
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Author Klein, E.D.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitation and affordance learning by pigeons (Columba livia) Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 117 Issue 4 Pages 414-419
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Columbidae; Cues; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Odors; Sound
Abstract The bidirectional control procedure was used to determine whether pigeons (Columba livia) would imitate a demonstrator that pushed a sliding screen for food. One group of observers saw a trained demonstrator push a sliding screen door with its beak (imitation group), whereas 2 other groups watched the screen move independently (possibly learning how the environment works) with a conspecific either present (affordance learning with social facilitation) or absent (affordance learning alone). A 4th group could not see the screen being pushed (sound and odor control). Imitation was evidenced by the finding that pigeons that saw a demonstrator push the screen made a higher proportion of matching screen pushes than observers in 2 appropriate control conditions. Further, observers that watched a screen move without a demonstrator present made a significantly higher proportion of matching screen pushes than would be expected by chance. Thus, these pigeons were capable of affordance learning.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-004, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:14717643 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 234
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Author Dorrance, B.R.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitation of conditional discriminations in pigeons (Columba livia) Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 116 Issue 3 Pages 277-285
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Conditioning (Psychology)/*physiology; Discrimination Learning/*physiology; Habituation, Psychophysiologic; *Imitative Behavior; Light; Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract In the present experiments, the 2-action method was used to determine whether pigeons could learn to imitate a conditional discrimination. Demonstrator pigeons (Columba livia) stepped on a treadle in the presence of 1 light and pecked at the treadle in the presence of another light. Demonstration did not seem to affect acquisition of the conditional discrimination (Experiment 1) but did facilitate its reversal of the conditional discrimination (Experiments 2 and 3). The results suggest that pigeons are not only able to learn a specific behavior by observing another pigeon, but they can also learn under which circumstances to perform that behavior. The results have implications for proposed mechanisms of imitation in animals.
Address Department of Psychology, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois 61201, USA. psdorrance@augustana.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12234078 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 240
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Author Dorrance, B.R.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 115 Issue 1 Pages 62-67
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Coturnix; Female; *Imitative Behavior; *Learning; Male; *Motivation; Reinforcement (Psychology); Time Factors
Abstract The 2-action method was used to examine whether imitative learning in Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) depends on the motivational state of the observer quail at the time of observation of the demonstrated behavior. Two groups of observers were fed before observation (satiated groups), whereas 2 other groups of observers were deprived of food before observation (hungry groups). Quail were tested either immediately following observation or after a 30-min delay. Results indicated that quail in the hungry groups imitated, whereas those in the satiated groups did not, regardless of whether their test was immediate or delayed. The results suggest that observer quail may not learn (through observation) behavior that leads to a reinforcer for which they are unmotivated at the time of test. In addition, the results show that quail are able to delay the performance of a response acquired through observation (i.e., they show deferred imitation).
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11334220 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 245
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Author Akins, C.K.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Imitative learning in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) using the two-action method Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) Abbreviated Journal J Comp Psychol
Volume 110 Issue 3 Pages 316-320
Keywords Animals; Appetitive Behavior; *Attention; *Coturnix; *Imitative Behavior; Male; *Motivation; Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract The study of imitative learning in animals has suffered from the presence of a number of confounding motivational and attentional factors (e.g., social facilitation and stimulus enhancement). The two-action method avoids these problems by exposing observers to demonstrators performing a response (e.g., operating a treadle) using 1 of 2 distinctive topographies (e.g., by pecking or by stepping). Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) observers exposed to conspecific demonstrators showed a high correlation between the topography of the response they observed and the response they performed. These data provide strong evidence for the existence of true imitative learning in an active, precocious bird under conditions that control for alternative accounts.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0044, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0735-7036 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8858851 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 254
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Author Zentall, T.R.
Title The case for a cognitive approach to animal learning and behavior Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Behavioral Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav Processes
Volume 54 Issue 1-3 Pages 65-78
Keywords
Abstract The dangers of hypothesizing about unobservable cognitive mechanisms are well known to behavior analysts. I propose, however, that carefully fashioned cognitive theories that make predictions that are inconsistent with current behavioral theories can provide useful research tools for the understanding of behavior. Furthermore, even if the results of such research may be accommodated by modifying existing behavioral theories, our understanding of behavior is often advanced by the empirical findings because it is unlikely that the research would have been conducted in the absence of such cognitive hypothesizing. Two examples of the development of emergent relations are described: The first deals with the nature of a pigeon's 'representation' of two stimuli both of which are associated with correct responding to a third in a many-to-one matching task (stimulus equivalence or common representations). The second has to do with transitive inference, the emergent relation between two stimuli mediated by their relation to a common stimulus in a simultaneous discrimination.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, 40506-0044, Lexington, KY, USA
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11369461 Approved no
Call Number Serial 25
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Author Zentall, T.R.
Title Temporal discrimination learning by pigeons Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Behavioural processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 74 Issue 2 Pages 286-292
Keywords
Abstract Memory for time by animals appears to undergo a systematic shortening. This so-called choose-short effect can be seen in a conditional temporal discrimination when a delay is inserted between the sample and comparison stimuli. We have proposed that this temporal shortening may result from a procedural artifact in which the delay appears similar to the intertrial interval and thus, produces an inadvertent ambiguity or 'instructional failure'. When this ambiguity is avoided by distinguishing the intertrial interval from the delay, as well as the samples from the delay, the temporal shortening effect and other asymmetries often disappear. By avoiding artifacts that can lead to a misinterpretation of results, we may understand better how animals represent time. An alternative procedure for studying temporal discriminations is with the psychophysical bisection procedure in which following conditional discrimination training, intermediate durations are presented and the point of subjective equality is determined. Research using the bisection procedure has shown that pigeons represent temporal durations not only as their absolute value but also relative to durations from which they must be discriminated. Using this procedure, we have also found that time passes subjectively slower when animals are required to respond to the to-be-timed stimulus.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, United States. zentall@uky.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN (down) 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17110057 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 216
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