Journal article
The pigeon’s discrimination of visual entropy: A logarithmic function
Animal learning & behavior, Vol.30(4), pp.306-314
11/2002
DOI: 10.3758/BF03195956
PMID: 12593323
Abstract
We taught 8 pigeons to discriminate 16-icon arrays that differed in their visual variability or “entropy” to see whether the relationship between entropy and discriminative behavior is linear (in which equivalent differences in entropy should produce equivalent changes in behavior) or logarithmic (in which higher entropy values should be less discriminable from one another than lower entropy values). Pigeons received a go/no-go task in which the lower entropy arrays were reinforced for one group and the higher entropy arrays were reinforced for a second group. The superior discrimination of the second group was predicted by a theoretical analysis in which excitatory and inhibitory stimulus generalization gradients fall along a logarithmic, but not a linear scale. Reanalysis of previously published data also yielded results consistent with a logarithmic relationship between entropy and discriminative behavior.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The pigeon’s discrimination of visual entropy: A logarithmic function
- Creators
- Michael Young - Department of Psychology Southern Illinois University Mailcode 6502 62901-6502 Carbondale ILEdward Wasserman - University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Animal learning & behavior, Vol.30(4), pp.306-314
- Publisher
- Springer-Verlag; New York
- DOI
- 10.3758/BF03195956
- PMID
- 12593323
- ISSN
- 0090-4996
- eISSN
- 1532-5830
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/2002
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
- Record Identifier
- 9984070141202771
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