Testing analogical rule transfer in pigeons (Columba livia).

ABSTRACT: Categorization is an essential cognitive process useful for transferring knowledge from previous experience to novel situations. The mechanisms by which trained categorization behavior extends to novel stimuli, especially in animals, are insufficiently understood. To understand how pigeons learn and transfer category membership, seven pigeons were trained to classify controlled, bi-dimensional stimuli in a two-alternative forced-choice task. Following either dimensional, rule-based (RB) or information integration (II) training, tests were conducted focusing on the "analogical" extension of the learned discrimination to novel regions of the stimulus space (Casale, Roeder, & Ashby, 2012). The pigeons' results mirrored those from human and non-human primates evaluated using the same analogica

SUBMITTER: Qadri MAJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6322971 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature