Abstract
As a result of learning a single discrimination problem, rats and pigeons will show positive transfer to totally new discriminations. It has been suggested that this transfer effect reflects the development of a process of general attentiveness. However, alternative explanations of the transfer effect are available which do not require any radical departure from traditional discrimination learning theory. The three experiments reported here demonstrate positive general transfer in rats trained on a simultaneous discrimination and tested under conditions which rule out these alternative explanations. The experiments also attempt to specify the nature of the processes underlying the general transfer effect.
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Work supported by a grant from the United Kingdom Science Research Council.
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Hall, G. An analysis of positive general transfer in discrimination learning in the rat. Animal Learning & Behavior 3, 212–216 (1975). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213433
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03213433