Information processing in animals

为了与我实验室以前的工作保持一致，我提议探索动物处理时间、空间和数量维度的能力。我将继续研究动物是否有时间概念，从而能够认知时间旅行的问题。用黑帽山雀进行的实验将寻找情节记忆及其时间基础的证据，而用老鼠进行的实验将寻找未来计划的证据。当线索发出不同的食物奖励固定时间间隔信号时，将使用峰值程序来检查线索竞争(遮挡和阻挡)。最近的研究和理论表明，人类和动物共享一个基于震级估计的原始计数过程。我开发了一个基于这一过程的数字辨别模型，对表现做出具体的定量预测。这一模型的预测将在一系列鸽子实验中得到验证。尽管最近的研究表明，狗对人类的暗示高度敏感，但人们对它们的基本认知能力知之甚少。我将在狗身上进行实验，检查它们的空间记忆、跟踪时间的能力，以及区分不同数量事件的能力。

In keeping with previous work in my laboratory, I propose to explore animals' ability to process the dimensions of time, space, and number. I will continue to examine the question of whether animals have a concept of time and can thus cognitively time travel. Experiments with black-capped chickadees will look for evidence of episodic memory and its temporal basis, and experiments with rats will look for evidence of future planning. Cue competition (overshadowing and blocking) will be examined using the peak procedure when the cues signal different fixed time intervals to food reward. Recent research and theory suggests that humans and animals share a primitive counting process based on magnitude estimation. I have developed a model of number discrimination based on this process that makes specific quantitative predictions about performance. The predictions of this model will be tested in a series of experiments with pigeons. Although recent research indicates that dogs are highly sensitive to human cueing, relatively little is known about their basic cognitive abilities. I will carry out experiments with dogs to examine their spatial memory, ability to keep track of time, and ability to discriminate between different numbers of events.