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Anthony A. Wright - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Issues in the comparative cognition of same/different abstract-Concept Learning
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 2021Co-Authors: Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. WrightAbstract:Same/different abstract-Concept Learning provides a basis for higher order Learning. We present criteria (e.g. the use of novel items, how to reinforce responding, achieving full Concept Learning) for evaluating evidence of abstract-Concept Learning. We discuss how revealing functional relationships also are critical for understanding how abstract Concepts are learned. To illustrate our points, data from six diverse species are presented. The findings reveal quantitative differences in Learning with all species achieving full abstract-Concept Learning. We conclude that same/different abstract-Concept Learning is an example of convergent evolution shared amongst mammalian and non-mammalian species.
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Abstract-Concept Learning in Black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia).
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2016Co-Authors: John F. Magnotti, Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. Wright, Kevin Leonard, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:relational Concepts depend upon relationships between stimuli (e.g., same vs. different) and transcend features of the training stimuli. Recent evidence shows that Learning abstract Concepts is shared across a variety species including birds. Our recent work with a highly-skilled food-storing bird, Clark's nutcracker, revealed superior same/different abstract-Concept Learning compared to rhesus monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and pigeons. Here we test a more social, but less reliant on food-storing, corvid species, the Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia). We used the same procedures and training exemplars (eight pairs of the same rule, and 56 pairs of the different rule) as were used to test the other species. Magpies (n = 10) showed a level of abstract-Concept Learning that was equivalent to nutcrackers and greater than the primates and pigeons tested with these same exemplars. These findings suggest that superior initial abstract-Concept Learning abilities may be shared across corvids generally, rather than confined to those strongly reliant on spatial memory.
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Concept Learning set-size functions for Clark's nutcrackers.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 2015Co-Authors: Anthony A. Wright, Jeffrey S. Katz, John F. Magnotti, Kevin Leonard, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:Same/Different abstract-Concept Learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) was tested with novel stimuli following Learning of training set expansion (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and 1024 picture items). The resulting set-size function was compared to those from rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), and pigeons (Columba livia). Nutcrackers showed partial Concept Learning following initial eight-item set Learning, unlike the other species (Magnotti, Katz, Wright, & Kelly, 2015). The mean function for the nutcrackers' novel-stimulus transfer increased linearly as a function of the logarithm of training set size, which intersected its baseline function at the 128-item set size. Thus, nutcrackers on average achieved full Concept Learning (i.e., transfer statistically equivalent to baseline performance) somewhere between set sizes of 64 to 128 items, similar to full Concept Learning by monkeys. Pigeons required a somewhat larger training set (256 items) for full Concept Learning, but results from other experiments (initial training and transfer with 32- and 64-item set sizes) suggested carryover effects with smaller set sizes may have artificially prolonged the pigeon's full Concept Learning. We find it remarkable that these diverse species with very different neural architectures can fully learn this same/different abstract Concept, and (at least under some conditions) do so with roughly similar sets sizes (64-128 items) and numbers of training exemplars, despite initial Concept Learning advantages (nutcrackers), Learning disadvantages (pigeons), or increasing baselines (monkeys).
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Superior abstract-Concept Learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana).
Biology letters, 2015Co-Authors: John F. Magnotti, Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. Wright, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:The ability to learn abstract relational Concepts is fundamental to higher level cognition. In contrast to item-specific Concepts (e.g. pictures containing trees versus pictures containing cars), abstract relational Concepts are not bound to particular stimulus features, but instead involve the relationship between stimuli and therefore may be extrapolated to novel stimuli. Previous research investigating the same/different abstract Concept has suggested that primates might be specially adapted to extract relations among items and would require fewer exemplars of a rule to learn an abstract Concept than non-primate species. We assessed abstract-Concept Learning in an avian species, Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), using a small number of exemplars (eight pairs of the same rule, and 56 pairs of the different rule) identical to that previously used to compare rhesus monkeys, capuchin monkeys and pigeons. Nutcrackers as a group (N = 9) showed more novel stimulus transfer than any previous species tested with this small number of exemplars. Two nutcrackers showed full Concept Learning and four more showed transfer considerably above chance performance, indicating partial Concept Learning. These results show that the Clark's nutcracker, a corvid species well known for its amazing feats of spatial memory, learns the same/different abstract Concept better than any non-human species (including non-human primates) yet tested on this same task.
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Matching-to-sample abstract-Concept Learning by pigeons.
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes, 2008Co-Authors: Kent D. Bodily, Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. WrightAbstract:Abstract Concepts--rules that transcend training stimuli--have been argued to be unique to some species. Pigeons, a focus of much Concept-Learning research, were tested for Learning a matching-to-sample abstract Concept. Five pigeons were trained with three cartoon stimuli. Pigeons pecked a sample 10 times and then chose which of two simultaneously presented comparison stimuli matched the sample. After acquisition, abstract-Concept Learning was tested by presenting novel cartoons on 12 out of 96 trials for 4 consecutive sessions. A cycle of doubling the training set followed by retraining and novel-testing was repeated eight times, increasing the set size from 3 to 768 items. Transfer performance improved from chance (i.e., no abstract-Concept Learning) to a level equivalent to baseline performance (>80%) and was similar to an equivalent function for same/different abstract-Concept Learning. Analyses assessed the possibility that item-specific choice strategies accounted for acquisition and transfer performance. These analyses converged to rule out item-specific strategies at all but the smallest set-sizes (3-24 items). Ruling out these possibilities adds to the evidence that pigeons learned the relational abstract Concept of matching-to-sample.
Jeffrey S. Katz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Matching-to-sample abstract-Concept Learning by dogs (Canis familiaris).
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition, 2021Co-Authors: Lucia Lazarowski, Adam Davila, Sarah Krichbaum, Emma Cox, Jordan G Smith, L Paul Waggoner, Jeffrey S. KatzAbstract:The abstract Concept of sameness forms the basis of higher-order cognitive operations, including mathematics and language. Historically believed to be unique to humans, evidence of abstract-Concept Learning in recent decades has been demonstrated in a range of phylogenetically diverse species, indicating that the ability to judge sameness relations is a general process resulting from convergent evolution. However, to date, no research has demonstrated evidence of such Learning in any canid species. We trained domestic dogs (n = 6) on a two-choice olfactory matching-to-sample task using a training set of 48 odors in trial-unique sessions. Upon meeting an acquisition criterion (two consecutive sessions ≥ 83% correct), we assessed abstract-Concept Learning by testing for transfer to novel odors. Dogs matched novel odors with above-chance accuracy and exceeded baseline levels, satisfying previously proposed criteria for full abstract-Concept Learning. Our findings provide the first evidence of MTS Concept Learning in dogs, illustrating qualitative similarities with other species. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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Issues in the comparative cognition of same/different abstract-Concept Learning
Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 2021Co-Authors: Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. WrightAbstract:Same/different abstract-Concept Learning provides a basis for higher order Learning. We present criteria (e.g. the use of novel items, how to reinforce responding, achieving full Concept Learning) for evaluating evidence of abstract-Concept Learning. We discuss how revealing functional relationships also are critical for understanding how abstract Concepts are learned. To illustrate our points, data from six diverse species are presented. The findings reveal quantitative differences in Learning with all species achieving full abstract-Concept Learning. We conclude that same/different abstract-Concept Learning is an example of convergent evolution shared amongst mammalian and non-mammalian species.
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Abstract-Concept Learning in Black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia).
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2016Co-Authors: John F. Magnotti, Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. Wright, Kevin Leonard, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:relational Concepts depend upon relationships between stimuli (e.g., same vs. different) and transcend features of the training stimuli. Recent evidence shows that Learning abstract Concepts is shared across a variety species including birds. Our recent work with a highly-skilled food-storing bird, Clark's nutcracker, revealed superior same/different abstract-Concept Learning compared to rhesus monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and pigeons. Here we test a more social, but less reliant on food-storing, corvid species, the Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia). We used the same procedures and training exemplars (eight pairs of the same rule, and 56 pairs of the different rule) as were used to test the other species. Magpies (n = 10) showed a level of abstract-Concept Learning that was equivalent to nutcrackers and greater than the primates and pigeons tested with these same exemplars. These findings suggest that superior initial abstract-Concept Learning abilities may be shared across corvids generally, rather than confined to those strongly reliant on spatial memory.
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Concept Learning set-size functions for Clark's nutcrackers.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 2015Co-Authors: Anthony A. Wright, Jeffrey S. Katz, John F. Magnotti, Kevin Leonard, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:Same/Different abstract-Concept Learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) was tested with novel stimuli following Learning of training set expansion (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and 1024 picture items). The resulting set-size function was compared to those from rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), and pigeons (Columba livia). Nutcrackers showed partial Concept Learning following initial eight-item set Learning, unlike the other species (Magnotti, Katz, Wright, & Kelly, 2015). The mean function for the nutcrackers' novel-stimulus transfer increased linearly as a function of the logarithm of training set size, which intersected its baseline function at the 128-item set size. Thus, nutcrackers on average achieved full Concept Learning (i.e., transfer statistically equivalent to baseline performance) somewhere between set sizes of 64 to 128 items, similar to full Concept Learning by monkeys. Pigeons required a somewhat larger training set (256 items) for full Concept Learning, but results from other experiments (initial training and transfer with 32- and 64-item set sizes) suggested carryover effects with smaller set sizes may have artificially prolonged the pigeon's full Concept Learning. We find it remarkable that these diverse species with very different neural architectures can fully learn this same/different abstract Concept, and (at least under some conditions) do so with roughly similar sets sizes (64-128 items) and numbers of training exemplars, despite initial Concept Learning advantages (nutcrackers), Learning disadvantages (pigeons), or increasing baselines (monkeys).
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Superior abstract-Concept Learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana).
Biology letters, 2015Co-Authors: John F. Magnotti, Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. Wright, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:The ability to learn abstract relational Concepts is fundamental to higher level cognition. In contrast to item-specific Concepts (e.g. pictures containing trees versus pictures containing cars), abstract relational Concepts are not bound to particular stimulus features, but instead involve the relationship between stimuli and therefore may be extrapolated to novel stimuli. Previous research investigating the same/different abstract Concept has suggested that primates might be specially adapted to extract relations among items and would require fewer exemplars of a rule to learn an abstract Concept than non-primate species. We assessed abstract-Concept Learning in an avian species, Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), using a small number of exemplars (eight pairs of the same rule, and 56 pairs of the different rule) identical to that previously used to compare rhesus monkeys, capuchin monkeys and pigeons. Nutcrackers as a group (N = 9) showed more novel stimulus transfer than any previous species tested with this small number of exemplars. Two nutcrackers showed full Concept Learning and four more showed transfer considerably above chance performance, indicating partial Concept Learning. These results show that the Clark's nutcracker, a corvid species well known for its amazing feats of spatial memory, learns the same/different abstract Concept better than any non-human species (including non-human primates) yet tested on this same task.
Lucia Lazarowski - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Matching-to-sample abstract-Concept Learning by dogs (Canis familiaris).
Journal of experimental psychology. Animal learning and cognition, 2021Co-Authors: Lucia Lazarowski, Adam Davila, Sarah Krichbaum, Emma Cox, Jordan G Smith, L Paul Waggoner, Jeffrey S. KatzAbstract:The abstract Concept of sameness forms the basis of higher-order cognitive operations, including mathematics and language. Historically believed to be unique to humans, evidence of abstract-Concept Learning in recent decades has been demonstrated in a range of phylogenetically diverse species, indicating that the ability to judge sameness relations is a general process resulting from convergent evolution. However, to date, no research has demonstrated evidence of such Learning in any canid species. We trained domestic dogs (n = 6) on a two-choice olfactory matching-to-sample task using a training set of 48 odors in trial-unique sessions. Upon meeting an acquisition criterion (two consecutive sessions ≥ 83% correct), we assessed abstract-Concept Learning by testing for transfer to novel odors. Dogs matched novel odors with above-chance accuracy and exceeded baseline levels, satisfying previously proposed criteria for full abstract-Concept Learning. Our findings provide the first evidence of MTS Concept Learning in dogs, illustrating qualitative similarities with other species. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
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effects of set size on identity and oddity abstract Concept Learning in rats
Animal Cognition, 2019Co-Authors: Lucia Lazarowski, Adam M Goodman, Mark Galizio, Katherine E BruceAbstract:Match (MTS) and non-match-to-sample (NMTS) procedures are used to assess Concepts of identity and oddity across species and are measured by transfer performance to novel stimuli. The number of exemplars used in training (set size) has been shown to affect Learning with evidence of larger set sizes promoting Concept Learning in several species. The present study explored the effects of set size and procedure on Concept Learning in rats using olfactory stimuli. Concept Learning was assessed for 20 rats via transfer tests consisting of novel stimuli after rats were initially trained to either MTS or NMTS with two or ten stimuli as exemplars. No difference was found in acquisition or transfer between MTS and NMTS, but rats trained with ten stimuli performed better on novel transfer tests than rats trained with two. When set size was expanded for rats originally trained with two stimuli and rats were re-tested with ten novel stimuli, performance showed full transfer demonstrating that training with multiple exemplars facilitates Concept Learning.
Ian Cloete - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Simultaneous Concept Learning of fuzzy rules
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2004Co-Authors: Jacobus Van Zyl, Ian CloeteAbstract:FuzzYBEXA was the first algorithm to use a set covering approach for induction of fuzzy classification rules. It followed an iterated Concept Learning strategy, where rules are induced for each Concept in turn. We present a new algorithm to allow also simultaneous Concept Learning and the induction of ordered fuzzy rule sets. When a proper rule evaluation function is used, simultaneous Concept Learning performs far better than iterated Concept Learning with respect to rule set size, rule complexity, search complexity, and classification accuracy. We provide empirical results of five experiments on nine data sets and also show that the algorithm compares favourably to other well known Concept learners.
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ECML - Simultaneous Concept Learning of fuzzy rules
Machine Learning: ECML 2004, 2004Co-Authors: Jacobus Van Zyl, Ian CloeteAbstract:FUZZYBEXA was the first algorithm to use a set covering approach for induction of fuzzy classification rules. It followed an iterated Concept Learning strategy, where rules are induced for each Concept in turn. We present a new algorithm to allow also simultaneous Concept Learning and the induction of ordered fuzzy rule sets. When a proper rule evaluation function is used, simultaneous Concept Learning performs far better than iterated Concept Learning with respect to rule set size, rule complexity, search complexity, and classification accuracy. We provide empirical results of five experiments on nine data sets and also show that the algorithm compares favourably to other well known Concept learners.
Debbie M. Kelly - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Abstract-Concept Learning in Black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia).
Psychonomic bulletin & review, 2016Co-Authors: John F. Magnotti, Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. Wright, Kevin Leonard, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:relational Concepts depend upon relationships between stimuli (e.g., same vs. different) and transcend features of the training stimuli. Recent evidence shows that Learning abstract Concepts is shared across a variety species including birds. Our recent work with a highly-skilled food-storing bird, Clark's nutcracker, revealed superior same/different abstract-Concept Learning compared to rhesus monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and pigeons. Here we test a more social, but less reliant on food-storing, corvid species, the Black-billed magpie (Pica hudsonia). We used the same procedures and training exemplars (eight pairs of the same rule, and 56 pairs of the different rule) as were used to test the other species. Magpies (n = 10) showed a level of abstract-Concept Learning that was equivalent to nutcrackers and greater than the primates and pigeons tested with these same exemplars. These findings suggest that superior initial abstract-Concept Learning abilities may be shared across corvids generally, rather than confined to those strongly reliant on spatial memory.
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Concept Learning set-size functions for Clark's nutcrackers.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 2015Co-Authors: Anthony A. Wright, Jeffrey S. Katz, John F. Magnotti, Kevin Leonard, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:Same/Different abstract-Concept Learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) was tested with novel stimuli following Learning of training set expansion (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and 1024 picture items). The resulting set-size function was compared to those from rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella), and pigeons (Columba livia). Nutcrackers showed partial Concept Learning following initial eight-item set Learning, unlike the other species (Magnotti, Katz, Wright, & Kelly, 2015). The mean function for the nutcrackers' novel-stimulus transfer increased linearly as a function of the logarithm of training set size, which intersected its baseline function at the 128-item set size. Thus, nutcrackers on average achieved full Concept Learning (i.e., transfer statistically equivalent to baseline performance) somewhere between set sizes of 64 to 128 items, similar to full Concept Learning by monkeys. Pigeons required a somewhat larger training set (256 items) for full Concept Learning, but results from other experiments (initial training and transfer with 32- and 64-item set sizes) suggested carryover effects with smaller set sizes may have artificially prolonged the pigeon's full Concept Learning. We find it remarkable that these diverse species with very different neural architectures can fully learn this same/different abstract Concept, and (at least under some conditions) do so with roughly similar sets sizes (64-128 items) and numbers of training exemplars, despite initial Concept Learning advantages (nutcrackers), Learning disadvantages (pigeons), or increasing baselines (monkeys).
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Superior abstract-Concept Learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana).
Biology letters, 2015Co-Authors: John F. Magnotti, Jeffrey S. Katz, Anthony A. Wright, Debbie M. KellyAbstract:The ability to learn abstract relational Concepts is fundamental to higher level cognition. In contrast to item-specific Concepts (e.g. pictures containing trees versus pictures containing cars), abstract relational Concepts are not bound to particular stimulus features, but instead involve the relationship between stimuli and therefore may be extrapolated to novel stimuli. Previous research investigating the same/different abstract Concept has suggested that primates might be specially adapted to extract relations among items and would require fewer exemplars of a rule to learn an abstract Concept than non-primate species. We assessed abstract-Concept Learning in an avian species, Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), using a small number of exemplars (eight pairs of the same rule, and 56 pairs of the different rule) identical to that previously used to compare rhesus monkeys, capuchin monkeys and pigeons. Nutcrackers as a group (N = 9) showed more novel stimulus transfer than any previous species tested with this small number of exemplars. Two nutcrackers showed full Concept Learning and four more showed transfer considerably above chance performance, indicating partial Concept Learning. These results show that the Clark's nutcracker, a corvid species well known for its amazing feats of spatial memory, learns the same/different abstract Concept better than any non-human species (including non-human primates) yet tested on this same task.