Comparing cognition by integrating concept learning, proactive interference, and list memory

Abstract

This article describes an approach for training a variety of species to learn the abstract concept of same/different, which in turn forms the basis for testing proactive interference and list memory. The stimulus set for concept-learning training was progressively doubled from 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 . . . to 1,024 different pictures with novel-stimulus transfer following learning. All species fully learned the same/different abstract concept: capuchin and rhesus monkeys learned more readily than pigeons; nutcrackers and magpies were at least equivalent to monkeys and transferred somewhat better following initial training sets. A similar task using the 1,024-picture set plus delays was used to test proactive interference on occasional trials. Pigeons revealed greater interference with 10-s than with 1-s delays, whereas delay time had no effect on rhesus monkeys, suggesting that the monkeys' interference was event based. This same single-item same/different task was expanded to a 4-item list memory task to test animal list memory. Humans were tested similarly with lists of kaleidoscope pictures. Delays between the list and test were manipulated, resulting in strong initial recency effects (i.e., strong 4th-item memory) at short delays and changing to a strong primacy effect (i.e., strong 1st-item memory) at long delays (pigeons 0-s to 10-s delays; monkeys 0-s to 30-s delays; humans 0-s to 100-s delays). Results and findings are discussed in terms of these species' cognition and memory comparisons, evolutionary implications, and future directions for testing other species in these synergistically related tasks.

Matching-to-sample abstract-concept learning by dogs (Canis familiaris).

“…It is well established that the training set size is critical to acquisition and transfer, where small training sets often lead to fast acquisition but often result in little if any transfer to novel stimuli (e.g., A. A. Wright et al, 1988; A. A. Wright et al, 2018).…”

“…Future research is needed to uncover the functional relationships that underlie abstract-concept learning in dogs and potential quantitative differences in their abstract-concept learning abilities compared to other species. The use of the MTS procedure with dogs can also be valuable for comparative and translational investigations of memory and other cognitive processes (i.e., using a delayed-MTS task; Bunford et al, 2017; A. A. Wright et al, 2018).…”

Active Confirmation Bias in the Evaluative Processing of Food Images

“…Other phenomena and theories can also be interpreted to imply similar congruent biases, albeit on the basis of implicit mechanisms that would be activated automatically or unconsciously by the predictive cues. These phenomena and theories include priming 30 – 32 , proactive interference 33 , Pavlovian-instrumental transfer 34 , 35 , and emotional contagion 36 , 37 .…”

The Comparative Psychology of Intelligence: Some Thirty Years Later

“…If all that are being studied are tasks that rely on these core capacities (e.g., more-less, object identity), then the few differences that emerge are, indeed, likely to depend on contextual variables. However, contra Macphail, additional research demonstrates that different species develop additional abilities, beyond those based on these core capacities, to different extents: if the tasks being studied require more than core capacities, differences exist in various abilities to process more and more complex information (Wright et al, 2018). Specifically, complex cognition is not only the ability to come to a decision by evaluating, or processing, current information on the basis of some representation of prior experiences (e.g., Kamil, 1984).…”