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DISRUPTIVE EFFECTS OF STIMULUS INTENSITY ON TWO VARIATIONS OF A TEMPORAL DISCRIMINATION PROCEDURE
Author(s) -
McClure Erin A.,
Saulsgiver Kathryn A.,
Wynne Clive D. L.
Publication year - 2010
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.2010.94-57
Subject(s) - stimulus (psychology) , flattening , audiology , psychology , brightness , cognitive psychology , optics , medicine , physics , astronomy
Previous reports using stimulus intensity changes to disrupt temporal discrimination have shown shifts in the psychophysical curve for time, while studies using other disrupters have shown a flattening of the curve. The current study investigated the impact of increases and decreases in stimulus intensity on temporal discrimination in pigeons, to determine if a flattening of the curve could be extended to this disruptor. The brightness of the sample to be timed was manipulated under two procedural variations, in which the response alternatives were differentiated by color or location. Results showed that all subjects in the color procedure, and one in the location procedure, showed a flattening of the psychophysical curve when they experienced increased stimulus intensity in descending order. No subjects exposed to an ascending order of stimulus intensities, and none of the other subjects in the location procedure, showed any impact of changed stimulus intensity. Minimal disruption was found when test sessions presented decreased stimulus intensity levels in a second series. These results, together with those using other types of disrupters, add to the evidence of a flattening of the psychophysical curve when temporal discrimination is disrupted.