Abstract
In two experiments, the effects of feature identity in operant serial feature-positive discriminations were examined with rats. Rats were trained with two serial feature-positive discriminations (F1 → T1+/ T1− and F2 → T2+/ T2−), in which different operants were reinforced with delivery of a sucrose solution during two auditory target cues (T1 and T2). The features (F1 and F2) were two visual cues, two flavored sucrose solutions, or one visual cue and one sucrose solution. Transfer of a feature’s control to the target of the other discrimination was observed only when the features were from the same modality. When observed, transfer responding was of the form originally trained to the target, rather than the feature, and was preserved after feature extinction. Control groups showed that the differential transfer was not solely the consequence of differential feature generalization. Implications for theories of occasion setting are discussed.
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This research was conducted while M.J.G. was on sabbatical leave at Duke University. It was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation to P.C.H. and by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant to M.J.G. Portions of these data were reported at the annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St. Louis, Missouri, November 1994.
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Goddard, M.J., Holland, P.C. Type of feature affects transfer in operant serial feature-positive discriminations. Animal Learning & Behavior 24, 266–276 (1996). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198975
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198975