Factors affecting conditional discrimination learning by pigeons: II. Physical and temporal characteristics of stimuli

Abstract

Four experiments were performed to determine the stimulus characteristics that favor the development of conditional stimulus control in the single reversal paradigm with pigeon subjects. In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained on a successive discrimination between tone frequencies ranging from 350 to 3500 Hz in a particular houselight context condition (houselight-on or -off). The subjects then were trained on the reversal of the tone discrimination in the alternative context. Subsequent tone-frequency generalization testing in the two contexts indicated that they had failed to gain conditional control over the pigeons’ discriminative performance. Such control was obtained in Experiment 2, in which the two problems were alternated daily for 32 sessions of training. The gradients then peaked at the appropriate S+ value in each context. In Experiment 3, the key colors (blue vs. red) served as contexts while pigeons learned a successive discrimination in which the discriminative cues were houselight-on versus houselight-off conditions. This was followed by a reversal of the discrimination in the alternative key-color context condition. The key colors were effective conditional cues in this situation. In a previous experiment (Thomas, McKelvie, & Mah, 1985), key color had been ineffective as a conditional cue when the discriminative cues were lines superimposed on the colored background. In Experiment 4, key color was effective when the color and lines were presented on a single key as in the earlier experiment, but were sequenced such that the onset of the key color preceded and then overlapped the presentation of the lines. We concluded that conditional discriminations are easiest for pigeons when visual cues are used, but the conditional and discriminative cues must be presented in such a way that they do not combine to form a psychological compound.