Abstract
In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained on two feature-positive discriminations. A transfer test examined whether the feature from one discrimination enhanced responding to the target from the other. Transfer was obtained, but it was incomplete; the feature produced less responding to the transfer target than to its own. Experiments 2 and 3 examined whether this attenuation of responding was the product of generalization decrement induced by the novel combination of feature and target on transfer trials. Birds were trained on a pair of pseudo-occasion-setting discriminations in which each target was reinforced whether or not it was preceded by its feature. In a subsequent test, there was no loss of responding when novel combinations of features and targets were introduced; on the contrary, responding was, if anything, enhanced in this condition. This suggests that imperfect transfer is not due to generalization decrement but to the fact that an occasion setter is specific to its target stimulus.
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This research was financed by a grant from the Science and Engineering Research Council. I would like to thank Geoff Hall for much helpful discussion and several anonymous reviewers for their useful comments.
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Bonardi, C. Transfer of occasion setting: The role of generalization decrement. Animal Learning & Behavior 24, 277–289 (1996). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198976
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198976