Reinforcement-Based Models of Delayed Matching-to-Sample Performance

威克斯特博士的研究旨在加强我们对支配动物记忆的原则的理解。如果成功，结果可能有助于解开人类记忆如何运作以及有时会出错这个复杂得多的谜题。在整个这些实验中使用的基本程序包括呈现一系列试验，在每个试验期间，在中央窗口向鸽子显示一种颜色(例如，红色)几秒钟，在一段时间内去除该颜色，然后在两个侧面窗口中给鸽子在两种颜色(红色和绿色)之间的选择。对匹配的颜色(在这种情况下，红色)的反应会得到食物奖励，而对不匹配的颜色的反应只会结束试验。威克斯特博士将进行三组实验，解决不同但相关的问题。第一组是关于短期和长期记忆如何竞争来决定鸽子在给定试验中的选择的问题。更具体地说，红色和绿色之间的选择可能涉及对先前颜色(红色)的短期记忆和对通常提供更多奖励的选择颜色的长期记忆之间的竞争。第二组实验涉及识别导致刺激变得更令人难忘(或更少)的心理变量。正在研究的原理认为，与生物意义重大事件(如食物)的短暂延迟相关的刺激比与长期延迟相关的刺激更令人难忘。最后，第三组实验考察了影响记忆不发生的变量。也就是说，在什么情况下，动物会记得在特定的试验中没有刺激出现在中心窗口？总而言之，这些实验的结果将有助于确定构成动物记忆的原理，最终可能也是人类记忆的基础。

Dr. Wixted's research is designed to enhance our understanding of the principles that govern animal memory. If successful, the results may help to solve the far more complex puzzle of how memory operates, and sometimes goes awry, in humans. The basic procedure used throughout these experiments involves presenting a series of trials, during each of which a color (e.g., red) is shown to a pigeon in a center window for a few seconds, the color is removed for a period of time, and then the pigeon is given a choice between two colors (red vs. green) in two side windows. A response to the matching color (in this case, red) is rewarded with food while a response to the nonmatching color simply ends the trial. Dr. Wixted will carry out three sets of experiments that address different, but related, issues. The first set is concerned with the question of how short-term and long-term memory compete to determine the pigeon's choice on a given trial. More specifically, the choice between red and green may involve a competition between short-term memory for the previous color (red) and long-term memory for the choice color that generally provides the greater number of rewards. The second set of experiments is concerned with identifying the psychological variables that cause a stimulus to become more (or less) memorable. The principle under investigation holds that a stimulus associated with a short delay to a biologically significant event (e.g., food) is more memorable than one associated with a long delay. Finally, the third set of experiments investigates the variables that influence memory for nonoccurrence. That is, under what conditions will an animal remember that no stimulus appeared in the center window on a particular trial? Together, the results of these experiments will help to identify the principles that underlie animal and, ultimately perhaps, human memory.