Abstract
In 49 sessions, pigeons failed to learn to sort a collection of 80 stimuli composed of a closed curve and a dot, divided into two categories, according to whether the dot was or was not inside the curve. Next, the pigeons were successfully trained, first with the insides of the curves shown in bright red, then with a darker red, and finally with a black matching the background outside the curve. After this stepwise procedure, the pigeons displayed a limited ability to sort novel curves and dot locations according to whether the dot was or was not inside the curve.
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The work reported here was supported by Grant IST-85-11606 from the National Science Foundation to Harvard University.
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Herrnstein, R.J., Vaughan, W., Mumford, D.B. et al. Teaching pigeons an abstract relational rule: Insideness. Perception & Psychophysics 46, 56–64 (1989). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208074
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208074