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Author Fetterman, J.G.
Title Dimensions of stimulus complexity Type Journal Article
Year 1996 Publication Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume (down) 22 Issue 1 Pages 3-18
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Cognition; *Learning; Memory; Time Factors
Abstract Animal learning research has increasingly used complex stimuli that approximate natural objects, events, and locations, a trend that has accompanied a resurgence of interest in the role of cognitive factors in learning. Accounts of complex stimulus control have focused mainly on cognitive mechanisms and largely ignored the contribution of stimulus information to perception and memory for complex events. It is argued here that research on animal learning stands to benefit from a more detailed consideration of the stimulus and that James Gibson's stimulus-centered theory of perception serves as a useful framework for analyses of complex stimuli. Several issues in the field of animal learning and cognition are considered from the Gibsonian perspective on stimuli, including the fundamental problem of defining the effective stimulus.
Address Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis 46202, USA
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 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8568494 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2782
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Author Petherick, J.C.; Waddington, D.; Duncan, I.J.H.
Title Learning to gain access to a foraging and dustbathing substrate by domestic fowl: is `out of sight out of mind'? Type Journal Article
Year 1991 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume (down) 22 Issue 3 Pages 213-226
Keywords Domestic fowl; Dustbathing; Welfare; Learning; Cognition
Abstract Domestic fowl were deprived of the opportunity to perform litter-related behaviour for three or four days and were tested in a Y-maze (which they had previously been trained to run) for their ability to associate a coloured cue with gaining access to peat. When the goal boxes were within sight of the choice point, most birds chose peat. However, when the birds had to rely solely on the coloured cue only one bird from 12 showed learning. However, the birds seemed to have some expectation of a reward, as they ran faster if, on the previous trial, they had chosen peat. The inability of the birds to learn the association may have been an artefact of the schedule of deprivation and testing, for when they were hungry and tested in the same way they were again unable to learn an association between the same coloured cue and food reward. The experiment with peat was repeated using “massed” trials (several trials in immediate succession) during training and testing and six from 15 birds showed learning. These results suggest that the initial failure to learn was probably due to the training and testing schedule, that access to peat appears to be rewarding and that hens can learn an association between an abstract cue and a rewarding consequence. This is consistent with the possibility that domestic fowls may have some cognitive representation of peat when it is out of sight.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3609
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Author Zentall, T.R.; Sherburne, L.M.
Title Role of differential sample responding in the differential outcomes effect involving delayed matching by pigeons Type Journal Article
Year 1994 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume (down) 20 Issue 4 Pages 390-401
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; Choice Behavior; *Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Feeding Behavior; Task Performance and Analysis
Abstract The role of differential sample responding in the differential outcomes effect was examined. In Experiment 1, we trained pigeons on a one-to-many matching task with differential sample responding required. Differential outcomes were associated with samples and comparisons, with comparisons only, or with neither samples nor comparisons. Slopes of delay functions for trials with pecked versus nonpecked samples suggested use of a single-code-default strategy in the nondifferential-outcomes group but not in the differential-outcomes groups. In Experiment 2, differential sample responding and differential outcomes were manipulated independently. Again, there were significant differences in the relative slopes of the delay functions. Results suggest that differential outcomes exert their effect independently of differential sample responding.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506
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 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:7964521 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 257
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Author Zentall, T.R.; Sherburne, L.M.
Title Transfer of value from S+ to S- in a simultaneous discrimination Type Journal Article
Year 1994 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume (down) 20 Issue 2 Pages 176-183
Keywords Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Attention; Color Perception; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Female; Male; Motivation; Orientation; Pattern Recognition, Visual; *Problem Solving; *Reinforcement Schedule; *Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract Value transfer theory has been proposed to account for transitive inference effects (L. V. Fersen, C. D. L. Wynne, J. D. Delius, & J. E. R. Staddon, 1991), in which following training on 4 simultaneous discriminations (A+B-, B+C-, C+D-, D+E-) pigeons show a preference for B over D. According to this theory, some of the value of reinforcement acquired by each S+ transfers to the S-. In the transitive inference experiment, C (associated with both reward and nonreward) can transfer less value to D than A (associated only with reward) can transfer to B. Support for value transfer theory was demonstrated in 2 experiments in which an S- presented in the context of a stimulus to which responses were always reinforced (S+) was preferred over an S- presented in the context of a stimulus to which responses were sometimes reinforced (S +/-).
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506
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ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8189186 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 258
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Author Shettleworth, S.J.
Title Varieties of learning and memory in animals Type Journal Article
Year 1993 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume (down) 19 Issue 1 Pages 5-14
Keywords Animals; Association Learning; Birds; Conditioning, Classical; Evolution; Imprinting (Psychology); *Learning; *Memory; Social Environment; Species Specificity; Taste
Abstract It is often assumed that there is more than one kind of learning--or more than one memory system--each of which is specialized for a different function. Yet, the criteria by which the varieties of learning and memory should be distinguished are seldom clear. Learning and memory phenomena can differ from one another across species or situations (and thus be specialized) in a number of different ways. What is needed is a consistent theoretical approach to the whole range of learning phenomena, and one is explored here. Parallels and contrasts in the study of sensory systems illustrate one way to integrate the study of general mechanisms with an appreciation of species-specific adaptations.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:8418217 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 380
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Author Urcuioli, P.J.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Transfer across delayed discriminations: evidence regarding the nature of prospective working memory Type Journal Article
Year 1992 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume (down) 18 Issue 2 Pages 154-173
Keywords Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Attention; *Color Perception; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; *Mental Recall; *Pattern Recognition, Visual; Problem Solving; Retention (Psychology); *Transfer (Psychology)
Abstract Pigeons were trained successively either on 2 delayed simple discriminations or on a delayed simple discrimination followed by delayed matching-to-sample. During subsequent transfer tests, the initial stimuli from the 1st task were substituted for those in the 2nd. Performances transferred immediately if both sets of initial stimuli had been associated with the presence versus absence of food on their respective retention tests, and the direction of transfer (positive or negative) depended on whether the substitution involved stimuli with identical or different outcome associates. No transfer was found, however, when the initial stimuli were associated with different patterns of responding but food occurred at the end of every trial. These results are consistent with outcome expectancy mediation but are incompatible with response intention and retrospective coding accounts.
Address Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1364
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 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:1583445 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 260
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Author Reid, P.J.; Shettleworth, S.J.
Title Detection of cryptic prey: search image or search rate? Type Journal Article
Year 1992 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume (down) 18 Issue 3 Pages 273-286
Keywords Animals; Appetitive Behavior; *Attention; Color Perception; Columbidae; *Discrimination Learning; Food Preferences/psychology; *Imagination; *Mental Recall; *Predatory Behavior
Abstract Animals' improvement in capturing cryptic prey with experience has long been attributed to a perceptual mechanism, the specific search image. Detection could also be improved by adjusting rate of search. In a series of studies using both naturalistic and operant search tasks, pigeons searched for wheat, dyed to produce 1 conspicuous and 2 equally cryptic prey types. Contrary to the predictions of the search-rate hypothesis, pigeons given a choice between the 2 cryptic types took the type experienced most recently. However, experience with 1 cryptic type improved accuracy on the other cryptic type, a result inconsistent with a search image specific to 1 prey type. Search image may better be thought of as priming of attention to those features of the prey type that best distinguish the prey from the background.
Address University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
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ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:1619395 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 381
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Author Shettleworth, S.J.; Plowright, C.M.
Title How pigeons estimate rates of prey encounter Type Journal Article
Year 1992 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume (down) 18 Issue 3 Pages 219-235
Keywords Analysis of Variance; Animals; *Appetitive Behavior; Columbidae; Conditioning, Operant; Food Preferences/*psychology; Motivation; *Predatory Behavior; *Probability Learning; *Reinforcement Schedule; Social Environment
Abstract Pigeons were trained on operant schedules simulating successive encounters with prey items. When items were encountered on variable-interval schedules, birds were more likely to accept a poor item (long delay to food) the longer they had just searched, as if they were averaging prey density over a short memory window (Experiment 1). Responding as if the immediate future would be like the immediate past was reversed when a short search predicted a long search next time (Experiment 2). Experience with different degrees of environmental predictability appeared to change the length of the memory window (Experiment 3). The results may reflect linear waiting (Higa, Wynne, & Staddon, 1991), but they differ in some respects. The findings have implications for possible mechanisms of adjusting behavior to current reinforcement conditions.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:1619391 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 382
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Author Merola, I.; Lazzaroni, M.; Marshall-Pescini, S.; Prato-Previde, E.
Title Social referencing and cat–human communication Type Journal Article
Year 2015 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (down) 18 Issue 3 Pages 639-648
Keywords Social referencing; Cats; Gaze alternation; Social learning; Human–cat communication
Abstract Cats’ (Felis catus) communicative behaviour towards humans was explored using a social referencing paradigm in the presence of a potentially frightening object. One group of cats observed their owner delivering a positive emotional message, whereas another group received a negative emotional message. The aim was to evaluate whether cats use the emotional information provided by their owners about a novel/unfamiliar object to guide their own behaviour towards it. We assessed the presence of social referencing, in terms of referential looking towards the owner (defined as looking to the owner immediately before or after looking at the object), the behavioural regulation based on the owner’s emotional (positive vs negative) message (vocal and facial), and the observational conditioning following the owner’s actions towards the object. Most cats (79 %) exhibited referential looking between the owner and the object, and also to some extent changed their behaviour in line with the emotional message given by the owner. Results are discussed in relation to social referencing in other species (dogs in particular) and cats’ social organization and domestication history.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5885
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Author Krueger, K.; Farmer, K.; Heinze, J.
Title The effects of age, rank and neophobia on social learning in horses Type Journal Article
Year 2014 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume (down) 17 Issue 3 Pages 645-655
Keywords Horse; Social learning; Sociality; Ecology; Social relationships
Abstract Social learning is said to meet the demands of complex environments in which individuals compete over resources and co-operate to share resources. Horses (Equus caballus) were thought to lack social learning skills because they feed on homogenously distributed resources with few reasons for conflict. However, the horse’s social environment is complex, which raises the possibility that its capacity for social transfer of feeding behaviour has been underestimated. We conducted a social learning experiment using 30 socially kept horses of different ages. Five horses, one from each group, were chosen as demonstrators, and the remaining 25 horses were designated observers. Observers from each group were allowed to watch their group demonstrator opening a feeding apparatus. We found that young, low ranking, and more exploratory horses learned by observing older members of their own group, and the older the horse, the more slowly it appeared to learn. Social learning may be an adaptive specialisation to the social environment. Older animals may avoid the potential costs of acquiring complex and potentially disadvantageous feeding behaviours from younger group members. We argue that horses show social learning in the context of their social ecology, and that research procedures must take such contexts into account. Misconceptions about the horse’s sociality may have hampered earlier studies.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5737
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