Cognition and Perception Commons^™

On Discriminating Temporal Relations: Is It Relational?, Leon R. Dreyfus, J. Gregor Fetterman, D. Alan Stubbs, Susan Montello

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Pigeons were presented on each trial with a pair of keylight stimuli that varied in duration. One of two subsequent choices was reinforced, depending on which of the two stimuli was longer. For some pairs, the duration of one stimulus was predictive of relative duration, but for other pairs, absolute duration was unpredictive. Choice responses depended on relative differences between the stimuli, but were also controlled to some degree by absolute duration of the second member of the pair. Individual differences in control by absolute and relative duration were evident. Those pigeons whose behavior was most influenced by absolute duration …