Ashton Rebecca L, De Lillo Carlo
Department of Psychology, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.
J Comp Psychol. 2011 May;125(2):194-206. doi: 10.1037/a0022584.
The relative role of associative processes and the use of explicit cues about object location in search behavior in dogs (Canis familiaris) was assessed by using a spatial binary discrimination reversal paradigm in which reversal conditions featured: (1) a previously rewarded location and a novel location, (2) a previously nonrewarded location and a novel location, or (3) a previously rewarded location and a previously nonrewarded location. Rule mediated learning predicts a similar performance in these different reversal conditions whereas associative learning predicts the worst performance in Condition 3. Evidence for an associative control of search emerged when no explicit cues about food location were provided (Experiment 1) but also when dogs witnessed the hiding of food in the reversal trials (Experiment 2) and when they did so in both the prereversal and the reversal trials (Experiment 3). Nevertheless, dogs performed better in the prereversal phase of Experiment 3 indicating that their search could be informed by the knowledge of the food location. Experiment 4 confirmed the results of Experiments 1 and 2, under a different arrangement of search locations. We conclude that knowledge about object location guides search behavior in dogs but it cannot override associative processes.
通过使用空间二元辨别反转范式，评估了联想过程和使用关于物体位置的明确线索在犬类（家犬）搜索行为中的相对作用。在该范式中，反转条件包括：（1）一个先前有奖励的位置和一个新位置；（2）一个先前无奖励的位置和一个新位置；或（3）一个先前有奖励的位置和一个先前无奖励的位置。规则介导学习预测在这些不同的反转条件下表现相似，而联想学习预测在条件3下表现最差。当没有提供关于食物位置的明确线索时（实验1），以及当狗在反转试验中目睹食物隐藏时（实验2），以及当它们在反转前和反转试验中都这样做时（实验3），出现了搜索受联想控制的证据。然而，狗在实验3的反转前阶段表现更好，这表明它们的搜索可以通过对食物位置的了解来指导。实验4在不同的搜索位置安排下证实了实验1和2的结果。我们得出结论，关于物体位置的知识指导犬类的搜索行为，但它不能凌驾于联想过程之上。
