The present study investigated the possibility of teaching two domestic dogs (Canis
familiaris) to respond adequately to two classes of three stimuli (boxes with pieces of food when having S+ function) through a procedure of successive changes of simple
discrimination (SCSD). Sessions were carried out in a room in which two, four or six wooden boxes were placed side by side. Initially, the subjects responded to two stimuli (a
positive [S+] and another negative [S-]) for session, until four of the six boxes appeared
with both of the functions. In the following phase, the four boxes were presented
together, whith two boxes of a class functioning as S+ and the other two, as S-. Changes
were performed until the subjects reached the criteria of learning in 11 out of 12 sessions.
After that, the subjects were trained to respond to the two boxes that had not been used
before, and then, the training with all six boxes was initiated. The test took place after a
session of change with four boxes in which the two remaining boxes had been re-inserted
in the experimental room. Having negative results in this test, training of SCSD was
conducted with the six boxes, after which the test was remade. Both of the subjects had
adequately responded to all the trials. Other five tests were conducted with the others
boxes, in the same format of the first test. One of the subjects adequately responded to two of these five tests and the other to three of them. It is argued about the effect of the emphasis in the visual discrimination and the use of fixed positions of the boxes on the performance of the subjects.
|
