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ERRORLESS LEARNING OF A CONDITIONAL TEMPORAL DISCRIMINATION
Author(s) -
Arantes Joana,
Machado Armando
Publication year - 2011
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.2011.95-1
Subject(s) - psychology , stimulus (psychology) , audiology , discrimination learning , generalization , stimulus generalization , stimulus control , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , mathematics , neuroscience , perception , medicine , mathematical analysis , nicotine
In the present study we extended errorless learning to a conditional temporal discrimination. Pigeons' responses to a left‐red key after a 2‐s sample and to a right‐green key after a 10‐s sample were reinforced. There were two groups: One learned the discrimination through trial and error and the other through an errorless learning procedure. Then, both groups were presented with three types of tests. First, they were exposed to intermediate durations between 2 s and 10 s, and given a choice between both keys (stimulus generalization test). Second, a delay from 1 s to 16 s was included between the offset of the sample and the onset of the choice keys (delay test). Finally, pigeons learned a new discrimination in which the stimuli were switched (reversal test). Results showed that pigeons from the Errorless group made significantly fewer errors than those in the Trial‐and‐Error group. Both groups performed similarly during the stimulus generalization test and the reversal test, but results of the delay test suggested that, on long stimulus trials, responding in the errorless training group was less disrupted by delays.