Successive Discrimination Reversal Performance Research Articles

Posterior cortical lesion influences on successive discrimination reversal performance by rats

Groups of hooded rats sustained posterior cortical lesions before and after testing on a series of seven successive brightness-discrimination reversals. If damage had been inflicted before the test series, animals were always severely impaired on reversal tasks. If given reversal training as normals, about 70% of the animals performed nearly as proficiently postoperatively as they had originally. The 30% of the subjects that failed performed similarly to the animals that had sustained damage before testing. Impairments of successive discrimination reversal and the typical retention deficits of cortically damaged rats appeared to have similar capacities to be modified by preoperative training.

Comparisons of SDR performance of gibbons and three species of New World monkeys on a spatial task

The successive discrimination reversal (SDR) performances of four gibbons were obtained on a spatial task and compared with performances of squirrel, owl, and capuchin monkeys previously obtained on the same task. The gibbon’s performance was notably inferior to that of the capuchin and rather more closely resembled that of the owls and squirrels. The value of interspecies SDR performance comparisons in establishing a behavior taxonomy is discussed.

Note on the Calibration of Inter-Species Successive Discrimination Reversal (SDR) Performance Differences: Qualitative vs Quantitative Scaling

Two different approaches to the calibration of inter-species SDR performance differences that have emerged over the past decade are discussed. One, the discontinuity hypothesis, proposes a qualitative dimensional shift across vertebrates, with a two-category scale based upon the presence or absence of error reduction on SDR tasks. The other approach, the continuity hypothesis, argues for a quantitative dimensional shift across species, with a scaling of inter-species performance differences in terms of absolute scores. Important directions for future research are suggested.

Successive discrimination reversal (SDR) performances of American alligators and American crocodiles on a spatial task.

There is general agreement that birds and mammals, but not fish, can display error reduction on successive discrimination reversal (SDR) tasks. Reptiles, however, show error reduction on some but not other tasks. To provide further sampling of reptilian SDR performance, two species of crocodilians, the American alligator and the American crocodile, were tested on a spatial discrimination reversal task. Both species displayed error reduction, the alligator being appreciably inferior to the crocodile.

Successive discrimination reversal performance of mammalian species on a brightness task.

To examine the generality of inter-species SDR performance differences previously revealed on a spatial task, four different mammalian species were tested on a brightness successive discrimination reversal task. Analysis showed that the patterns of errors yielded on the spatial task were reproduced on the brightness task, except that on the brightness task, cacomistle performance was inferior to that by squirrel monkeys. Further evidence supporting the differential extinction explanation of inter-species variation in negative transfer was also found.

Successive discrimination reversal performance as a function of level of drive and incentive

The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the roles of drive and incentive upon the successive discrimination reversal performance of rats. Two levels of drive, high and low, and two values of incentive, large and small, were imposed upon four groups of Ss in a factorial design. All training and measurement were conducted in a simultaneous discrimination General Testing Apparatus. An overall analysis of variance indicated significant main effects of incentive and problems. The results were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that incentive exerts a significant and persistent effect upon reversal set performance in rats.

Comparisons of successive discrimination reversal performances among closely and remotely related avian species

The successive reversal performances of four different avian species, Bob White quail, White Leghorn chickens, Yellow Head parrots, and Red-billed Blue magpies, were studied across twenty-nine reversals of a spatial discrimination, in a form board box. One session of twenty trials was given each training day until a criterion of two or less errors per session was attained. All four groups showed appreciable decline in errors and session per problems, as well as initial errors. All four groups differed significantly in total numbers of errors and sessions across the twenty–nine reversals. Errors and sessions decreased progressively from the chickens, to the quail, to the parrots, with the lowest scores contributed by the magpie. The difference between parrot and magpie scores was less than that between the chicken and the quail. However, it appears that the successive reversal method can provide a system of behavioural calibration that is meaningfully correlated with taxonomic position.

Successive discrimination reversal performance by the greater hill myna

Successive discrimination reversal performance by the greater hill myna