Abstract
Short-term memory for order information in pigeons was explored by using a delayed matching-to-successive-samples task (DMTSS). Experiment 1 indicated that pigeons can accurately report the order of two successively presented samples. Experiments 2, 3 and 4 specifically addressed the representation of order information in short-term memory. Experiment 2 showed that when the duration of the first sample (S1) was very long, or when the duration of the second sample (S2) was very short, order errors increased relative to baseline (S1 and S2 of equal duration), suggesting that memory strength plays an important role in the discrimination of order. The possibility that strength information is necessary for accurate DMTSS performance was tested in Experiments 3 and 4. Pigeons continued to match accurately when memory strength and order were uncorrelated.
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This research was part of a doctoral dissertation submitted by the author to the University of Alberta. It was supported in part by a NSERC postgraduate scholarship and by a University of Alberta Dissertation fellowship. Preparation of this article was supported by a NSERC Operating Grant to the author. Thanks to Douglas S. Grant, C. Don Heth, Marcia L. Spetch, Ron Weisman, and especially to Peter Urcuioli, for their valuable comments on previous drafts.
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MacDonald, S.E. Delayed matching-to-successive-samples in pigeons: Short-term memory for item and order information. Animal Learning & Behavior 21, 59–67 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197977
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197977