Abstract

Two pigeons were tested for transfer of matching to novel colors after a three-phase training procedure: First, the birds were trained to match colors; second, they were trained to choose odd colors; and third, they were retrained to match colors. The third phase included additional trials in which pecking at novel colors was reinforced. A subsequent transfer test showed that performance on trials with novel colors was slightly above chance but below levels observed on trials with only familiar colors. In addition, there was no difference between performance on trials in which both the sample and correct comparisons were novel and trials in which only the incorrect comparison was novel. These results provide some evidence for the acquisition of a general matching strategy, but they suggest that when pigeons are presented novel stimuli in a test for transfer of matching, their behavior displays biases that can lead to misinterpretations of what is learned in matching tasks.

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