Non-Goal Cues Can Be Used to Disambiguate the Correct From the Rotationally Equivalent Location: Evidence From Blind-Folded Adults

Marshall L. Green, Alicia C. Evans, Jonathan E. Roberts, Bradley R. Sturz

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation

Abstract

Within the reorientation paradigm, strict associative-based accounts have suggested that responses to the rewarded beacon also result in an increase in the associative value of the corner in which it is situated [i.e., the geometrically correct corner] (Miller & Shettleworth, 2005). Given the focus on the rewarded beacon and the geometrically correct corner, little to no information should be gleaned from non-goal beacons; however, recent evidence suggests that information about non-goal beacons is acquired because the presence of a non-goal beacon can be used to disambiguate the correct from the rotationally equivalent location during testing (Sturz & Kelly, 2013). In the present experiment, we examined the extent to which a non-goal textural cue could be utilized to disambiguate the correct from the rotationally equivalent corner in the absence of vision. Specifically, we trained blind-folded adult humans to locate a target object located in a corner of a rectangular environment. Each corner contained a unique textural cue. During testing, we removed three textural cues (one of which always included the removal of the trained textural cue). Results indicated that blind-folded humans were able to utilize the presence of a non-goal texture to disambiguate the correct from the rotationally equivalent corner.

Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - Apr 1 2015
EventComparative Cognition Society’s International Conference on Comparative Cognition (CCS) -
Duration: Apr 1 2015 → …

Conference

ConferenceComparative Cognition Society’s International Conference on Comparative Cognition (CCS)
Period04/1/15 → …

Disciplines

  • Psychiatry and Psychology
  • Psychology

Keywords

  • Adults
  • Blindfolded
  • Disambiguation
  • Non-goal cues
  • Rotationally equivalent location

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