Applying Bubbles to Localize Features That Control Pigeons Visual

Gibson, B.M., Wasserman, E.A., Gosselin, F. and Schyns, P.G. (2005) Applying Bubbles to Localize Features That Control Pigeons Visual. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 31(3), pp. 376-382.

Abstract

The authors trained pigeons to discriminate images of human faces that displayed: (a) a happy or a neutral expression or (b) a man or a woman. After training the pigeons, the authors used a new procedure called Bubbles to pinpoint the features of the faces that were used to make these discriminations. Bubbles revealed that the features used to discriminate happy from neutral faces were different from those used to discriminate male from female faces. Furthermore, the features that pigeons used to make each of these discriminations overlapped those used by human observers in a companion study (F. Gosselin & P.G. Schyns, 2001). These results show that the Bubbles technique can be effectively applied to nonhuman animals to isolate the functional features of complex visual stimuli.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Schyns, Professor Philippe
• Authors: Gibson, B.M., Wasserman, E.A., Gosselin, F., and Schyns, P.G.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes