Information preferences across species: Pigeons, rats, and dogs

Abstract

We tested the information preferences of three different species; pigeons, rats and dogs. Eight animals of each species received forced trials that produced one of two stimulus sequences. In the first sequence, response to an initial stimulus led to one of two other stimuli, one of which guaranteed a food reward was coming and the other of which guaranteed no food reward was coming. In the second sequence, response to an initial stimulus led to one of two other stimuli, both of which predicted food reward on 50 % of the trials. The net reinforcement rate for both of the sequences was 50 %. On probe test trials, both initial stimuli were presented, and the subject chose between the informative and the non-informative cue, and the percent choice of the information sequence, in which stimuli predicted food or no food reliably, was recorded for each species across 10 sessions. Statistical tests showed that although pigeons showed a preference for the information sequence, neither rats nor dogs showed this preference. Experimental and ecological explanations are discussed.