Stagner Jessica P, Michler Daniel M, Rayburn-Reeves Rebecca M, Laude Jennifer R, Zentall Thomas R
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA.
Learn Behav. 2013 Mar;41(1):54-60. doi: 10.3758/s13420-012-0077-3.
Past research has shown that when given a simultaneous visual-discrimination midsession reversal task, pigeons typically anticipate the reversal well before it occurs and perseverate after it occurs. It appears that they use the estimation of time (or trial number) into the session, rather than (or in addition to) the more reliable cue, the outcome from the previous trial (i.e., a win-stay/lose-shift response rule), to determine which stimulus they should choose. In the present research, we investigated several variables that we thought might encourage pigeons to use a more efficient response strategy. In Experiment 1, we used a treadle-stepping response, rather than key pecking, to test the hypothesis that reflexive key pecking may have biased pigeons to estimate the time (or trial number) into the session at which the reversal would occur. In Experiment 2, we attempted to make the point of reversal in the session more salient by inserting irrelevant trials with stimuli different from the original discriminative stimuli, and for a separate group, we added a 5-s time-out penalty following incorrect choices. The use of a treadle-stepping response did not improve reversal performance, and although we found some improvement in reversal performance when the reversal was signaled and when errors resulted in a time-out, we found little evidence for performance that approached the win-stay/lose-shift accuracy shown by rats.
过去的研究表明，当鸽子接受同时进行的视觉辨别中期逆转任务时，它们通常会在逆转发生之前很久就预见到逆转，并在逆转发生后持续这种行为。似乎它们是利用对实验进程中的时间（或试验次数）的估计，而不是（或者除了）更可靠的线索——前一次试验的结果（即赢则继续/输则转换的反应规则），来决定应该选择哪个刺激。在本研究中，我们调查了几个我们认为可能会促使鸽子采用更有效反应策略的变量。在实验1中，我们使用踏板踩踏反应，而不是啄键反应，来检验这样一个假设，即反射性啄键可能使鸽子倾向于估计实验进程中逆转会发生的时间（或试验次数）。在实验2中，我们通过插入与原始辨别刺激不同的无关刺激试验，试图使实验中的逆转点更加突出，并且对于另一组，我们在错误选择后增加了5秒的暂停惩罚。使用踏板踩踏反应并没有提高逆转表现，虽然当逆转有信号提示以及错误导致暂停时，我们发现逆转表现有一些改善，但我们几乎没有发现鸽子的表现能达到大鼠所表现出的赢则继续/输则转换的准确性的证据。
