Abstract
Pigeons were presented on each trial with a pair of keylight stimuli that varied in duration. One of two subsequent choices was reinforced, depending on which of the two stimuli was longer. For some pairs, the duration of one stimulus was predictive of relative duration, but for other pairs, absolute duration was unpredictive. Choice responses depended on relative differences between the stimuli, but were also controlled to some degree by absolute duration of the second member of the pair. Individual differences in control by absolute and relative duration were evident. Those pigeons whose behavior was most influenced by absolute duration showed poorer transfer to a different set of duration pairs.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Alsop, B., &Honig, W. K. (1991). Sequential stimuli and relative numerosity discrimination in pigeons.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,17, 386–395.
Brown, P. L., &Jenkins, H. M. (1968). Autoshaping of the pigeon’s key-peck.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,11, 1–8.
Dreyfus, L. R. (1992). Absolute and relational control in a temporal comparison task. In W. K. Honig & J. G. Fetterman (Eds.),Cognitive aspects of stimulus control (pp. 21–46). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dreyfus, L. R., Fetterman, J. G., Smith, L. D., &Stubbs, D. A. (1988). Discrimination of temporal relations by pigeons.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,14, 349–367.
Fetterman, J. G., &Dreyfus, L. R. (1986). Pair comparison of durations.Behavioural Processes,12, 111–123.
Fetterman, J. G., &Dreyfus, L. R. (1987). Duration comparison and the perception of time. In M. L. Commons, J. E. Mazur, J. A. Nevin, & H. Rachlin (Eds.),Quantitative analyses of behavior: Vol. 5. The effects of delay and intervening events on reinforcement value (pp. 3–27). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Fetterman, J. G., Dreyfus, L. R., &Stubbs, D. A. (1989). Discrimination of duration ratios.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,15, 253–263.
Fetterman, J. G., Stubbs, D. A., &Dreyfus, L. R. (1986). Scaling of events spaced in time.Behavioural Processes,13, 53–68.
Fetterman, J. G., Stubbs, D. A., &Macewen, D. (1992). The perception of the extended stimulus. In W. K. Honig & J. G. Fetterman (Eds.),Cognitive aspects of stimulus control (pp. 1–20). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Grier, J. B. (1971). Nonparametric indices for sensitivity and bias: Computing formulas.Psychological Bulletin,75, 424–429.
Kraemer, P. J. (1990). Nonrelational processing of a sequential duration discrimination by pigeons.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,28, 71–73.
Lawrence, D. H., &Derivera, J. (1954). Evidence for relational transposition.Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology,47, 465–471.
Olton, D. S., &Samuelson, R. J. (1976). Remembrance of places passed: Spatial memory in rats.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,2, 97–116.
Page, S. C., Hulse, S. H., &Cynx, J. (1989). Relative pitch perception in the European starling(Sturnus vulgaris): Further evidence for an elusive phenomenon.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,15, 137–146.
Premack, D. (1978). On the abstractness of human concepts: Why it would be difficult to talk to a pigeon. In S. H. Hulse, H. Fowler, & W. K. Honig (Eds.),Cognitive processes in animal behavior (pp. 423–451). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Premack, D. (1983). The codes of man and beasts.Behavioral & Brain Sciences,6, 125–167.
Richelle, M., &Lejeune, H. (1980).Time in animal behaviour. London: Pergamon.
Roitblat, H. L. (1987).Introduction to comparative cognition. New York: Freeman.
Roitblat, H. L., Bever, T. G., &Terrace, H. S. (Eds.). (1984).Animal cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Stevens, S. S. (1951). Mathematics, measurement, and psychophysics. In S. S. Stevens (Ed.),Handbook of experimental psychology (pp. 1–49). New York: Wiley.
Stubbs, A. (1968). The discrimination of stimulus duration by pigeons.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,11, 223–238.
Stubbs, D. A. (1979). Temporal discrimination and psychophysics. In M. D. Zeiler & P. Harzem (Eds.),Advances in the analysis of behavior: Vol. 1. Reinforcement and the organization of behavior (pp. 341–369). Chichester, England: Wiley.
Wright, A. A., Cook, R. G., &Kendrick, D. F. (1989). Relational and absolute stimulus learning by monkeys in a memory task.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,52, 237–248.
Wright, A. A., Cook, R. G., Rivera, J. J., Sands, S. F., &Delius, J. D. (1988). Concept learning by pigeons: Matching-tc-sample with trial-unique video picture stimuli.Animal Learning & Behavior,16, 436–444.
Wright, A. A., Santiago, H. C., Sands, S. F., Kendrick, D. F., &Cook, R. G. (1985). Memory processing of serial lists by pigeons, monkeys, and people.Science,229, 287–289.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported in part by NSF REU 8901020 to Vassar College. J. Gregor Fetterman was supported during preparation of this paper by NSF Grant BNS-9021562. Portions of these data were presented at the meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, 1991, and at the Dalhousie Conference on Cognitive Aspects of Stimulus Control, Halifax, 1989.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dreyfus, L.R., Fetterman, J.G., Stubbs, D.A. et al. On discriminating temporal relations: Is it relational?. Animal Learning & Behavior 20, 135–145 (1992). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200411
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200411