Abstract
Four autoshaping experiments employed pigeon subjects to explore within-stimulus learning. Experiments 1 and 2 investigated the formation of an association between two elements within a visual compound as a function of the similarity of the elements to each other. As in earlier experiments on the formation of associations between stimuli, similarity improved learning within a stimulus. Experiments 3 and 4 examined the formation of color-form associations when the color was a property of the form or of the ground on which the form occurred. Learning was better between the form and its color than between the form and the color of its background. These results suggest that perceptual variables contribute to within-stimulus learning.
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This research was supported by NSF Grants BNS-78-02752 and BNS-83-08176.
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Rescorla, R.A. Two perceptual variables in within-event learning. Animal Learning & Behavior 14, 387–392 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200083
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200083