Visual search in pigeons: Effects of memory set size and display variables

Blough, Patricia M.

doi:10.3758/bf03206338

Cited by 42 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Sessions in which accuracy was below 80% were also not counted, but these were rare. Additional sessions continued until median RTs associated with each sequence position met a four-session criterion for trend (P. M. Blough, 1984). Six additional sessions followed, for final data collection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequential priming in visual search: Contributions of stimulus-driven facilitation and learned expectancies

Blough

Lacourse

1994

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Sequential priming refers to speeded visual search when target identity or location is repeated within a trial sequence. In two experiments with pigeons, we addressed the relative contributions of stimulus-driven factors and learned expectancies to this effect. Pigeons pecked at targets during trialwise presentations of visual-search displays. Random-sequence conditions minimized the role of expectancy by introducing same-target or same-location trial sequences unpredictably. Blocked-sequence conditions added predictability by regular repetition of target and/or location over trials. Intertrial interval varied from 0.5 to 3 sec. The findings revealed significant reductions in reaction time during predictable target or location sequences compared with unpredictable repetitions within random contexts. Stimulus-driven factors do not seem to have an important role in many instances of sequential priming. Expectancy-based priming of target and location followed similar patterns.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequential priming in visual search: Contributions of stimulus-driven facilitation and learned expectancies

Blough

Lacourse

1994

Animal Learning & Behavior

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“…Several applications of odd-item search are suggested below; each relates to a large literature that cannot be summarized here (see, for example, D. S. Blough, 1979Blough, , 1985, in press; D. S. Blough & Franklin, 1985;P. M. Blough, 1984).…”

Section: Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Search for specific items has been used in a few experiments with animals, not to supply similarity matrices, but rather to study discriminative processing; such matters as memory set size, display size, search images, and attention have been explored (e.g., D. S. Blough, 1979;P. M. Blough, 1984;Bond, 1983;Pietrewicz & Kamil, 1979).…”

Section: Feature Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Equally interesting are the roles of learning and memory in search processes. We have used other search tasks to study these matters (e.g, P. M. Blough, 1984), but important questions can be addressed with the odd-item method. Early data suggest, for example, that pigeons must be familiar with the targets in odd-item search, but not with the distractors.…”

Section: Psychophysical Scalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perceptual interpretations are complicated by the finding that search for a specific item deteriorates with large displays, at least when the target and distractors are similar (D. S. Blough, 1979;P. M. Blough, 1984).…”

Section: Psychophysical Scalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Odd-item search by pigeons: Method, instrumentation, and uses

Blough

1986

Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers

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In odd-item visual search, subjects confront a display on which a number of stimulus items appear. All but one of these items are identical; the subject must respond to the one item (the target) that in some way differs from all the others (the distractors). The time required to find the target reflects the similarity between the target form and the distractor form. A matrix of search times for all possible pairs of a set of 20 or more items can be obtained in a single session. Such similarity matrices may reflect stimulus features, dimensions, and categories, among other things. A method is described through which pigeons learn odd-item search rapidly and perform with high accuracy despite the appearance of each form as a target on some trials and as a distractor on others. The paper also describes the essential apparatus and exemplifies displays and data.How the world appears to beings other than ourselves is a question that has long fascinated philosophers and researchers. In attempting to answer it, investigators of species from bats to bees have enriched our understanding of perceptual processes and have provided essential links between physiological and behavioral data. Comparative data on form perception might similarly enhance the study of pattern recognition (see Commons, Herrnstein, & Kosslyn, in press), but the methods for studying form perception in nonprimates are few and are generally cumbersome. The method presented here, odd-item search, is more efficient than most and seems especially suited to provide data on similarities among many forms. In this task, the subject chooses the one item (the target) in a multi-item display that differs from all the others (the distractors), which are identical. The time taken to find this odd item is used to represent the similarity between the target and the distractors. Because many trials with many pairs of items appear in single sessions, odd-item search generates quantities of data. These data may, among other applications, help to answer questions about stimulus categories, features, dimensions, and scaling.We have used the odd-item search method extensively with pigeons. It combines aspects of several familiar procedures, among them oddity learning, visual search, and paired comparison. It is similar to the classic oddity task, except for the much larger number of items simultaneously displayed. It is a visual search task, but differs from most such tasks in that all stimulus items are treated equally, with none consistently serving as targets or nontargets only. In this respect, odd-item search is similar Address correspondence to: Donald S. Blough, Department of Psychology, Brown University, Providence. RI02912.to a classic paired-comparison task, in which all possible pairs from a large set of stimuli appear in single sessions. Other characteristics and uses of the method are outlined below. METHOD SubjectsIn our experiments in odd-item search, we have used White Carneaux pigeon subjects under standard deprivation conditions (l day deprived, 80% of fre...

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Pigeon (Columbidae)

Williams

2022

Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

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Visual search in pigeons: Effects of memory set size and display variables

Cited by 42 publications

References 21 publications

Sequential priming in visual search: Contributions of stimulus-driven facilitation and learned expectancies

Sequential priming in visual search: Contributions of stimulus-driven facilitation and learned expectancies

Odd-item search by pigeons: Method, instrumentation, and uses

Pigeon (Columbidae)

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