Sappington B F, Goldman L
Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 91768.
J Anim Sci. 1994 Dec;72(12):3080-7. doi: 10.2527/1994.72123080x.
Discrimination learning and concept formation abilities were investigated in four mature Arabian horses. A series of two-choice discrimination problems were presented on stimulus panels that could open to allow access to food bowls. Selection of the correct stimulus resulted in food reinforcement, and an incorrect choice was not rewarded. The positions of the correct and incorrect stimuli were varied randomly during each test session, and the criterion for learning each problem was 85% correct for two consecutive sessions of 30 or 40 trials. Testing progressed through six discrimination problems. The first four were simple pattern discriminations, but the last two incorporated several different triangles as correct stimuli and thus involved the concept of triangularity. Two of the subjects successfully completed only simple pattern discriminations, one showed evidence of learning in the first concept problem, and one completed all six tests, including the two concept formation problems. The results demonstrate complex pattern discrimination ability in horses, and suggest that they may also have the ability to form and use concepts in problem solving.
对四匹成年阿拉伯马的辨别学习和概念形成能力进行了研究。在可以打开以通向食槽的刺激面板上呈现了一系列二选一的辨别问题。选择正确的刺激会得到食物强化，而错误的选择则不会得到奖励。在每个测试环节中，正确和错误刺激的位置会随机变化，学习每个问题的标准是在连续两个30次或40次试验的环节中正确率达到85%。测试依次进行了六个辨别问题。前四个是简单的图案辨别，但最后两个将几个不同的三角形作为正确刺激，因此涉及到三角形的概念。其中两匹马仅成功完成了简单的图案辨别，一匹在第一个概念问题中显示出学习的迹象，还有一匹完成了所有六项测试，包括两个概念形成问题。结果证明了马具有复杂的图案辨别能力，并表明它们在解决问题时可能也具有形成和运用概念的能力。
