Abstract
The psychophysics and short-term retention of pigeons’ responses to rate of stimulus change were assessed in two experiments, using a symbolic delayed matching-to-sample procedure. In Experiment 1, the birds discriminated between steady and flickering lights. Psychophysical assessments of the discrimination suggested a mix of analogical and categorical strategies. Retention tests revealed a consistent bias to respond to the choice associated with theflickering sample. In Experiment 2, the birds discriminated between different rates of stimulus change (slow vs.fast). Retention tests indicated a bias to respond to the alternative associated with theslow sample. Transfer tests to new stimulus values revealed that the birds processed the stimuli in an absolute, rather than a relational fashion. These findings are related to recent work on biased forgetting in animal working memory experiments.
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This research was supported by NSF Grant BNS 9407527.
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Fetterman, J.G. Biases in pigeon working memory. Animal Learning & Behavior 28, 68–79 (2000). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199773
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199773