Premium
ASSOCIATIVE SYMMETRY IN THE PIGEON AFTER SUCCESSIVE MATCHING‐TO‐SAMPLE TRAINING
Author(s) -
Frank Andrea J.,
Wasserman Edward A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.2005.115-04
Subject(s) - matching (statistics) , associative property , symmetry (geometry) , bilateral symmetry , identity (music) , associative learning , association (psychology) , psychology , computer science , sample (material) , artificial intelligence , pattern recognition (psychology) , cognitive psychology , mathematics , statistics , pure mathematics , physics , geometry , mechanical engineering , acoustics , engineering , thermodynamics , psychotherapist
If an organism is explicitly taught an A→B association, then might it also spontaneously learn the symmetrical B→A association? Little evidence attests to such “associative symmetry” in nonhuman animals. We report for the first time a clear case of associative symmetry in the pigeon. Experiment 1 used a successive go/no go matching‐to‐sample procedure, which showed all of the training and testing stimuli in one location and intermixed arbitrary and identity matching trials. We found symmetrical responding that was as robust during testing (B→A) as during training (A→B). In Experiment 2, we trained different pigeons using only arbitrary matching trials before symmetry testing. No symmetrical responding was found. In Experiment 3, we trained other pigeons with only arbitrary matching trials and then tested for symmetry. When these pigeons, too, did not exhibit symmetrical responding, we retrained them with intermixed identity and arbitrary matching trials. Less robust symmetrical responding was obtained here than in Experiment 1. Collectively, these results suggest that identity matching may have to be learned concurrently with arbitrary matching from the outset of training for symmetry to emerge.