Department of Psychology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Anim Cogn. 2010 Jul;13(4):653-61. doi: 10.1007/s10071-010-0315-z. Epub 2010 Feb 11.
Pigeons were trained on three three-item lists (List 1: A(1) --> B(1) --> C(1;) List 2: A(2) --> B(2) --> C(2;) List 3: A(3) --> B(3) --> C(3)). After sessions in which any one of the three lists could be presented on a trial, derived-maintained list and derived-changed list probe trials were introduced. The derived list probe trials were composed of three items, one drawn from each of the training lists. On derived-maintained probe trials, each item was in the same ordinal position it occupied during training (e.g., A(3) --> B(1) --> C(2)). On derived-changed probe trials, items that occupied the second and third position during training were exchanged (e.g., A(2) --> C(3) --> B(1)). The performance of subjects on derived-maintained probe trials was significantly above chance and no different to that observed on the training lists. In contrast, subjects' performance on derived-changed probe trials was significantly below chance. To our knowledge, this is the first study that has demonstrated pigeons are able to learn and retain multiple three-item lists. In addition, subjects' performance on the derived-maintained probe trials suggests that they acquire knowledge of each list item's ordinal position when learning multiple lists.
鸽子在三个三项列表（列表 1：A(1) --> B(1) --> C(1); 列表 2：A(2) --> B(2) --> C(2); 列表 3：A(3) --> B(3) --> C(3)）上进行训练。在可以在试验中呈现三个列表中任意一个的几轮试验后，引入了派生保持列表和派生变化列表探测试验。派生列表探测试验由三个项目组成，每个项目都来自训练列表中的一个。在派生保持探测试验中，每个项目都处于与训练期间相同的顺序位置（例如，A(3) --> B(1) --> C(2)）。在派生变化探测试验中，训练期间占据第二和第三位置的项目进行了交换（例如，A(2) --> C(3) --> B(1)）。被试在派生保持探测试验中的表现明显高于偶然水平，与在训练列表中观察到的表现没有区别。相比之下，被试在派生变化探测试验中的表现明显低于偶然水平。据我们所知，这是首次证明鸽子能够学习和保留多个三项列表的研究。此外，被试在派生保持探测试验中的表现表明，他们在学习多个列表时获得了每个列表项目的顺序位置的知识。
