Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1993 May;59(3):471–482. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1993.59-471

Acquisition of matching-to-sample performance in rats using visual stimuli on nose keys.

I H Iversen 1
PMCID: PMC1322131  PMID: 8315365

Abstract

Steady and blinking white lights were projected on three nose keys arranged horizontally on one wall. The procedure was a conditional discrimination with a sample stimulus presented on the middle key and comparison stimuli on the side keys. Three rats acquired simultaneous "identity matching." Accuracy reached 80% in about 25 sessions and 90% or higher after about 50 sessions. Acquisition progressed through several stages of repeated errors, alteration between comparison keys from trial to trial, preference of specific keys or stimuli, and a gradual lengthening of strings of consecutive trials with correct responses. An analysis of the acquisition curves for individual trial configurations indicated that the matching-to-sample performance possibly consisted of separate discriminations.

Full text

PDF
475

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bierley R. A., Kesner R. P., Novak J. M. Episodic long-term memory in the rat: effects of hippocampal stimulation. Behav Neurosci. 1983 Feb;97(1):42–48. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.97.1.42. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carter D. E., Eckerman D. A. Symbolic matching by pigeons: rate of learning complex discriminations predicted from simple discriminations. Science. 1975 Feb 21;187(4177):662–664. doi: 10.1126/science.1114318. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cohen L. R., Looney T. A., Brady J. H., Aucella A. F. Differential sample response schedules in the acquisition of conditional discriminations by pigeons. J Exp Anal Behav. 1976 Sep;26(2):301–314. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1976.26-301. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. D'Amato M. R., Colombo M. On the limits of the matching concept in monkeys (Cebus apella). J Exp Anal Behav. 1989 Nov;52(3):225–236. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1989.52-225. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dunnett S. B. Comparative effects of cholinergic drugs and lesions of nucleus basalis or fimbria-fornix on delayed matching in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1985;87(3):357–363. doi: 10.1007/BF00432721. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Farthing G. W., Opuda M. J. Transfer of matching-to-sample in pigeons. J Exp Anal Behav. 1974 Mar;21(2):199–213. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1974.21-199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Goldman M., Shapiro S. Matching-to-sample and oddity-from-sample in goldfish. J Exp Anal Behav. 1979 Mar;31(2):259–266. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1979.31-259. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Holmes P. W. Transfer of matching performance in pigeons. J Exp Anal Behav. 1979 Jan;31(1):103–114. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1979.31-103. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Iversen I. H., Sidman M., Carrigan P. Stimulus definition in conditional discriminations. J Exp Anal Behav. 1986 May;45(3):297–304. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1986.45-297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kamil A. C., Sacks R. A. Three-configuration matching-to-sample in the pigeon. J Exp Anal Behav. 1972 May;17(3):483–488. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1972.17-483. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kirk R. C., White K. G., McNaughton N. Low dose scopolamine affects discriminability but not rate of forgetting in delayed conditional discrimination. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1988;96(4):541–546. doi: 10.1007/BF02180037. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rodewald H. K. All-or-none-acquisition in matching-to-sample and a test of two models. J Exp Anal Behav. 1974 Jul;22(1):53–60. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1974.22-53. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Santi A. The role of physical identity of the sample and correct comparison stimulus in matching-to-sample paradigms. J Exp Anal Behav. 1978 May;29(3):511–516. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1978.29-511. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Sidman M. Adventitious control by the location of comparison stimuli in conditional discriminations. J Exp Anal Behav. 1992 Jul;58(1):173–182. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1992.58-173. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Thomas J. R., Ahlers S. T. Neuropeptide-Y both improves and impairs delayed matching-to-sample performance in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1991 Oct;40(2):417–422. doi: 10.1016/0091-3057(91)90573-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Thomas J. R., Ahlers S. T., Schrot J. Cold-induced impairment of delayed matching in rats. Behav Neural Biol. 1991 Jan;55(1):19–30. doi: 10.1016/0163-1047(91)80124-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wible C. G., Findling R. L., Shapiro M., Lang E. J., Crane S., Olton D. S. Mnemonic correlates of unit activity in the hippocampus. Brain Res. 1986 Dec 3;399(1):97–110. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(86)90604-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES