1948/12/01 by Michael Davison, Douglas Elliffe, D.M. Alekseev +2 · 5 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · Psychology · Veterinary · #Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies #Animal Nutrition and Physiology #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Behavioral and Psychological Studies #Precipitation Measurement and Analysis
paper · pdf · doi:10.1901/jeab.2010.94-13
openalex publication_date 1948/12/01 · crossref issued 2010/07/01 · crossref published 2010/07/01 · crossref published-print 2010/07/01 · crossref created 2011/01/31 · crossref published-online 2013/02/26 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · crossref deposited 2023/10/16 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31
Four pigeons were trained on a conditional discrimination. The conditional stimuli were compounds of pairs of stimuli from two different dimensions, fast versus slow cycles of red or green stimuli, and short- versus long-duration presentations of these cycles. Across conditions, the probability of reinforcers for correctly responding to each dimension was varied from 0 to 1. Discriminability, measured by log d, for stimuli on a dimension increased as the relative frequency of reinforcers for that dimension increased, replicating the results of Shahan and Podlesnik (2006). Two further conditions showed that discriminability between stimuli on each dimension was unaffected by whether the stimuli on the other dimension varied or were constant. Finally, maximal discriminability was unchanged in a redundant-relevant cues condition in which either of the stimuli comprising a compound signaled the same correct response. Davison and Nevin's (1999) model provided an excellent quantitative account of the effect of relative reinforcer frequency on discriminability, and thus of the way in which divided stimulus control is itself controlled by relative reinforcement.