Variation in Motivational Level and Inter-Species SDR Performance Differences among Closely Related Avian Species

Abstract

Past work has suggested that successive reversal learning might be a valuable methodology for the calibration of inter-species performance differences. However, recent work has revealed that such learning is importantly influenced by variation in drive ( D) and incentive ( K) levels. To determine whether previously reported inter-species differences might have been the result of failure to equate D and K across species the reversal performances of Ringneck doves and pigeons on a spatial task were compared under two levels of D and one level of K.