Effects of differential and nondifferential reinforcement on generalization test performance by cats.

Abstract

Trained 2 groups of 12 cats each to discriminate upright and inverted triangles and administered 6 tests for stimulus generalization with differential or nondifferential reinforcement. Nondifferentially rewarded Ss made significantly fewer appropriate responses on the generalization tests and responded at chance levels on tests with 2 pairs of figures which elicited significant preferences from the differentially rewarded group. Results indicate that negative results on equivalence tests with nondifferential reinforcement cannot be construed as unequivocal evidence of perceptual incapacity in animal Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)