Abstract
Three cats, 3 raccoons, 3 monkeys, and 3 chimpanzees were trained in 1-trial simple oddity problems until criterion was attained or 4800 trials were administered. Identical stimuli and procedures were used with all Ss. It was found that cats and raccoons could not reach criterion while monkeys and chimpanzees did. Chimpanzees were superior to monkeys but the two groups overlapped.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Braun, H. W. The effects of electroshock convulsion upon the learning performance of monkeys: III. Oddity problems. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1952, 45, 585–588.
Bromer, J. A. A genetic and physiological investigation of concept behavior in primates, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1940.
Davenport, R. D., & Menzel, E. W. Oddity preference in the chimpanzee. Psychol. Rep., 1960, 7, 523–526.
Duncan, D. B. Multiple tests for correlated and heteroscedastic means. Biometrics, 1957, 13, 164–176.
Ellis, N. R., & Sloan, W. Oddity learning as a function of mental age. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1959, 52, 228–230.
Gardner, L. P., & Nissen, H. W. Simple discrimination behavior of young chimpanzees: comparisons with human aments and domestic animals. Ped. Sem. J. gen. Psychol., 1948, 72, 145–164.
Koronakos, C., & Arnold, W. The formation of learning sets in rats. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1957, 50, 11–14.
Lashley, K. S. The mechanism of vision: XV. Preliminary studies of rat’s capacity for detail vision. J. gen. Psychol., 1938, 18, 123–193.
Levine, M., & Harlow, H. F. Learning-sets with one- and twelve-trial oddity problems. Amer. J. Psychol., 1959, 72, 253–257.
Martin, W. E., & Blum, A. Effects of irrelevant cues on inter-test generalization in discrimination learning of normal children. Psychol. Rep., 1960, 7, 399–404.
Moon, L. E., & Harlow, H. F. Analysis of oddity learning by rhesus monkeys. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1955, 48, 188–195.
Nisson, H. W., & McCulloch, T. L. Equated and nonequated stimulus situations in discriminations learning by chimpanzees, III, pre-potency of response to oddity through training. J. comp. Psychol., 1937, 23, 377–381.
Pastore, N. Discrimination learning in the canary. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1954, 47, 389–390.
Robinson, E. W. A preliminary experiment on abstraction in a monkey. J. comp. Psychol., 1933, 16, 231–236.
Strong, P. N., Jr. Learning and transfer of oddity as a function of apparatus and trials per problem. Psychon. Sci., 1965, 3, 19–20.
Warren, J. M., & Boyd, B. O. Solution of oddity problems by cats. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1957, 50, 258–260.
Warren, J. M. Oddity learning in a cat. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1960, 53, 433–434.
Woodinsky, J., & Bitterman, M. E. The solution of oddity problems by the rat. Amer. J. Psychol., 1953, 66, 137–140.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported in part by Air Force Contract No. 29(600)-2939. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Comparative Psychology Laboratory personnel at Holloman Air Force Base for their cooperation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Strong, P.N., Hedges, M. Comparative studies in simple oddity learning: I. Cats, raccoons, monkeys, and chimpanzees. Psychon Sci 5, 13–14 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328254
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328254