Abstract
Various authors have suggested that learning associations between objects and pictures is a necessary condition for the perception of pictures. If so, then animals, never exposed to situations in which those associations might be learned, should not show transfer between objects and pictures. In this investigation, pigeons trained to discriminate between two solid objects were retrained with reinforcement reversal on either the objects themselves or photographs, line drawings, or silhouettes of the objects. Significant negative transfer indicated object-photograph and object-silhouette equivalence, but no transfer was found to line drawings. Positive transfer to photographs was also demonstrated. Transfer did not appear to be a function of object-picture confusability.
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These experiments are portions of a thesis submitted for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in psychology at Cornell University.
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Cabe, P.A. Transfer of discrimination from solid objects to pictures by pigeons: A test of theoretical models of pictorial perception. Perception & Psychophysics 19, 545–550 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211224
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211224