AVIAN SAME/DIFFERENT CONCEPT LEARNING AND PERCEPTION

这一建议的总体目标是阐明鸟类的高阶认知，如概念行为和关系学习。研究使用相同-不同（S/D）辨别来探索鸽子如何从真实物体的照片中提取分类信息并学习抽象关系。第一个系列的研究将从相同或不同的角度展示物体的图片。如果鸽子在一组不相同的图片中识别出相同的物体，那么物体识别应该比视图识别进行得更快。第二个系列将采用S/D交替程序，其中图片A和B（除了一个变化，例如，遗漏了一个物体之外是相同的）连续交替，每张图片之间间隔很短。受试者察觉差异的难易程度将告诉我们，他们对物体图像的关注程度，以及他们在感知过程中被处理的时间有多早。第三个系列将训练s区分两对图片，其中每对图片之间的关系相同（AA对CC；或AB对CD）或不同（AA对CD）。尽管Premack认为只有人类和受过语言训练的黑猩猩才能做出抽象的S/D判断，但在非灵长类动物、不使用符号的物种（如鸽子）身上验证这一说法很重要。对动物的概念学习和关系学习的深入了解将增加我们对人类高阶认知的理解，有助于发现和发展认知障碍的治疗方法，并促进生态有效的教育实践。

The general aim of this proposal is to shed light on higher-order avian cognition, e.g., conceptual behavior and relational learning. The studies use same-different (S/D) discriminations to explore how pigeons extract categorical information from photographs of real objects and learn abstract relations. The first series of studies will present pictures of objects from the same or different views. If pigeons recognize the same object across sets of non-identical pictures, then object discrimination should proceed faster than view discrimination. The second series will employ the S/D alternation procedure in which pictures A and B (that are identical except for one change, e.g., omission of an object) are serially alternated with a brief interval between each picture. The ease with which subjects detect a difference will tell us how much attention is allocated to images of objects and how early in perception they are processed. The third series will train Ss to discriminate between two pairs of pictures in which each pair shares the same (AA versus CC; or AB versus CD) or different (AA versus CD) relation with each other. Though Premack has argued that only humans and language trained chimpanzees can make abstract S/D judgements, it is important to test this claim with a non-primate, non-symbol using species (e.g., the pigeon). A greater understanding of conceptual and relational learning in animals will increase our understanding of higher-order human cognition, contribute to the detection and development of treatments of cognitive disorders and facilitate ecologically valid educational practices.