CONCEPT LEARNING AND LIST MEMORY

描述（申请人摘要）：本申请的广泛的长期目标 研究的目的是了解高阶概念是如何习得的。该提案 扩展了关于恒河猴概念学习和列表记忆的发现 猴子和鸽子对每一个物种的实验几乎是相同的， 允许进行优秀的跨物种比较研究。第一组 的实验探索参数与潜在的机制， 学习和迁移相同-不同（SD）的歧视。SD的判断 要求受试者在两个项目相同时回答“相同”， “不同”是指两个项目彼此不同。实验 直接检验增加的观察响应（即，number 啄或触摸刺激）导致关系学习通过诱导 视觉刺激的元素分析（Wright，1997）。的作用 在第二组实验中进一步测试观察响应， 列表存储器这些列表记忆实验使用了更复杂的 序列探针识别（SPR）任务，其中顺序呈现的 items后面跟着一个probe item。这项新研究的具体目标是 （1）比较SD歧视的策略和机制 两个不同物种之间，（2）评估观察反应的作用 （3）评价观察反应的相互作用， 设置概念学习的规模，（4）评估基本概念如何转移到更多的概念。 复杂的问题，（5）评估观察响应列表的作用 记忆

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): The broad, long-term objective of this research is to understand how higher-order concepts are learned. The proposal expands upon findings regarding concept learning and list memory in rhesus monkeys and pigeons. The experiments for each species are virtually identical, permitting an excellent cross species comparative investigation. The first set of experiments explores parameters associated with the underlying mechanisms of learning and transfer of same-different (SD) discriminations. An SD judgment requires a subject to respond "same" when two items are identical and "different" when two items are different from each other. The experiments directly test the hypothesis that increased observing responses (i.e., number of pecks or touches to a stimulus) lead to relational learning by inducing the elemental analysis of a visual stimulus (Wright, 1997). The role of the observing response is further tested in the second set of experiments examining list memory. These list memory experiments use the more complex serial-probe-recognition (SPR) task in which a sequentially presented list of items is followed by a probe item. The specific aims of this new research are to (1) compare the strategies and mechanisms underlying SD discriminations between two different species, (2) evaluate the role of the observing response on concept learning, (3) evaluate the interaction of observing responses and set size on concept learning, (4) evaluate how basic concepts transfer to more complex problems, and (5) evaluate the role of the observing response on list memory.