Abstract
We studied transposition in pigeons, using multiple-pair discrimination training. Four birds discriminated two pairs of circles: 1+ 2− and 5+ 6− or 1− 2+ and 5− 6+ (digits denote circle diameters and plus and minus signs denote reward and nonreward, respectively). Four other birds discriminated four pairs of circles: 1+2−, 1+3−, 4+6−, and 5+6−or 1−2+, 1−3+, 4−6+, and 5−6+. Finally, 4 birds discriminated only one pair of circles: 1+ 2−, 1+ 2−, 5+ 6−, or 5− 6+. Testing included five new pairs—1/5, 2/3, 2/6, 3/4, and 4/5—that distinguished absolute from relational accounts of transposition. The pigeons’ relational responding rose from one- to two- to four-pair training. The similarity of the testing stimuli to one another also affected relational responding: Transposition increased with highly dissimilar stimuli. Neither Spence’s (1937) theory nor existing relational accounts could predict the obtained pattern of relational responding.
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The results of this research were partially presented at the 2002 Psychonomic Society annual meeting, at the 2003 Conference on Comparative Cognition, and at the 2004 American Psychological Association meeting. We are most grateful to Al Riley, who encouraged us to conduct these experiments after hearing our reasons for doing so, and to Gregg Oden, who suggested a clever way for us to conduct Experiment 2. Thanks also go to Tina Antes, Kate Freiburger, Andrea Frank, and Brett Gibson for their help in running the experiments and for everyday logistical support.
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Lazareva, O.F., Wasserman, E.A. & Young, M.E. Transposition in pigeons: reassessing spence (1937) with multiple discrimination training. Animal Learning & Behavior 33, 22–46 (2005). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196048
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03196048