CHUNKING BY A PIGEON IN A SERIAL-LEARNING TASK
CHUNKING BY A PIGEON IN A SERIAL-LEARNING TASK
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DOI：
10.1038/325149a0
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发表时间：
1987-01-08
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
TERRACE, HS
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
TERRACE, HS
人类记忆的一个基本原则是，可以组织成难忘的“块”的列表更容易记住。记忆跨度被限制在一个大致恒定数量的块，并在很大程度上独立于每个chunk 1，2中包含的信息量。根据将离散项目整合成组块的代码的独创性，可以大大增加可以正确回忆的项目数量。研究非语言生物体记忆的新范式3允许比较人类和非人类受试者记忆列表的能力。在这里，我提出了两种类型的证据，鸽子的“块”5元素列表的组件（颜色和无色的几何形式）被聚集成不同的群体。这些列表的学习速度是同类颜色列表或元素不聚类的异类列表的两倍。鸽子也被测试了对五元素表中两个元素的顺序的认识。它们只对那些包含块边界的子集以正确的顺序做出响应。因此，组块可以在动物身上进行有益的研究;允许有机体形成组块的认知过程并不以语言能力为前提。
A basic principle of human memory is that lists that can be organized into memorable 'chunks' are easier to remember. Memory span is limited to a roughly constant number of chunks and is to a large extent independent of the amount of information contained in each chunk1,2. Depending on the ingenuity of the code used to integrate discrete items into chunks, one can substantially increase the number of items that can be recalled correctly. Newly developed paradigms3for studying memory in non-verbal organisms allow comparison of the abilities of human and non-human subjects to memorise lists. Here I present two types of evidence that pigeons 'chunk' 5-element lists whose components (colours and achromatic geometric forms) are clustered into distinct groups. Those lists were learned twice as rapidly as a homogeneous list of colours or heterogeneous lists in which the elements are not clustered. The pigeons were also tested for knowledge of the order of two elements drawn from the 5-eIement lists. They responded in the correct order only to those subsets that contained a chunk boundary. Thus chunking can be studied profitably in animal subjects; the cognitive processes that allow an organism to form chunks do not presuppose linguistic competence.