Transfer of serial reversal learning in the pigeon

Abstract

Pigeons were trained on a series of reversals of a simultaneous visual discrimination and were then shifted to a second series of reversals with different visual discriminanda. Pigeons that were given discrimination reversals with one pair of colours (Group Colour) and then shifted to a second pair of colours made fewer errors with the second pair than the first. In contrast, pigeons that were initially given reversals with a pair of orientations (Group Orientation) and then shifted to colours made as many errors during colour reversals as Group Colour had during initial colour training. When birds in Group Colour were subsequently shifted to orientation discrimination reversals, they performed no better than Group Orientation had during initial orientation training. The present results suggest that positive transfer from one series of discrimination reversals to a second, independent series may be constrained by the nature of the stimulus shift.