Visual search in pigeons: Effects of memory set size and display variables

Blough, Patricia M. · 1984 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3758/bf03206338

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates visual search mechanisms in pigeons to determine whether their information-processing strategies parallel those observed in humans, specifically regarding serial versus parallel processing. The research addresses how memory set size (the number of target items held in memory) and display variables (size and composition) affect search efficiency. While human studies suggest that search can become "automatic" or parallel with practice or under specific conditions, previous work on pigeons indicated mixed results. This paper aims to clarify these findings by systematically manipulating memory set size and display parameters within a single paradigm to assess interactions between these factors. The experiments utilized White Carneaux pigeons trained in a three-key forced-choice procedure. Subjects were required to peck at a key corresponding to the location of a target letter embedded in a display of distractor letters. Experiment 1 varied memory set size (1, 2, or 4 items) and display size (3, 6, or 9 items). Experiment 2 extended these ranges, testing memory set sizes up to 6 items and display sizes up to 18 items. Experiment 3 examined the effects of distractor redundancy and target-distractor similarity. Reaction time (RT) and accuracy were the primary dependent measures. The experimental design carefully controlled for practice effects and discriminability, ensuring that targets and distractors were drawn from sets with known discriminability levels. The results demonstrated that display size consistently affected search speed, with reaction times increasing significantly as the number of items in the display grew, regardless of memory set size. In contrast, memory set size had little to no significant effect on accuracy or reaction time in most conditions. Specifically, increasing the memory set from 1 to 2 items did not alter RT, and even when extended to 6 items, the effect on RT was not significant across subjects, although some individual variability was observed. Experiment 3 revealed that search was fastest when distractors were redundant and dissimilar to the target, indicating that target-distractor similarity modulates the display size effect. Accuracy remained high across all conditions, rarely dropping below 83%. These findings suggest that pigeon visual search shares fundamental characteristics with human search, particularly the persistence of display size effects and the influence of target-distractor similarity. However, the lack of a significant memory set size effect implies that pigeons may utilize parallel processing strategies for memory search, or that their memory search mechanisms differ from the serial processes often observed in humans. The study concludes that while pigeons exhibit efficient visual search capabilities influenced by display composition, their handling of memory load appears distinct, offering insights into the evolutionary and cognitive similarities and differences between avian and human visual systems.

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• visual search