PERIMETER, COMPLEXITY, AND FORM DISCRIMINATION LEARNING BY CATS

Trained 10 groups of 10 cats on discriminations between each of the 10 possible pairs of 5 shapes: circle, triangle, cross, U, and I. The number of errors to criterion was significantly correlated with intrapair disparity in perimeter (rho = -.72) and complexity (rho = -.79). Transfer tests indicated the strength of the complexity variable: Ss made many more errors discriminating a triangle and a parallelogram than a cross and a parallelogram, even though the 2 pairs presented almost equal differences in perimeter. The transfer tests also showed that the Ss learned equally well to avoid the old negative as to approach the old positive stimulus. In general, the relation between perimeter and discrimination performance is in agreement with previous findings with rats. Cats differ from rats, however, in their greater responsiveness to complexity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.