Peak Shift in Remembering

In behavioural terms, to remember a stimulus is torespond to that stimulus at a later time. Rememberingcan thus be seen as discriminative behaviour alongthe stimulus dimension of time. This implies thatphenomena such as stimulus generalisation, which havebeen shown to occur in discrimination learning alongmany other stimulus dimensions, may occur also indiscrimination along the stimulus dimension of time,i.e. in remembering. Data from operant studies withpigeons and hens have supported this. This bookreports a highly novel finding, namely the firstevidence for the occurrence of peak shift in aremembering process. When hens were poorly rewardedfor correct remembering after a short delay, butrichly rewarded for correct remembering after alonger delay, they remembered best after an evenlonger delay. This phenomenon was not predicted byany traditional theory of memory, and cannot beexplained by the century-old standard construct ofmemory trace decay. This work will interest a widerange of researchers in psychology, cognitiveneuroscience, biology, or anyone interested inchallenging their thinking with a radically differentview of the nature of memory.

Autorentext

Andros Hoan, M.Soc.Sc., Gr.Dip.Acc&Fin., CPIM: Worked in manufacturing industry before returning to study, completing a Masters degree (with First Class Honours) in Psychology at the University of Waikato. Currently doing a PhD at CISAB, Macquarie University.

Klappentext
In behavioural terms, to remember a stimulus is to respond to that stimulus at a later time. Remembering can thus be seen as discriminative behaviour along the stimulus dimension of time. This implies that phenomena such as stimulus generalisation, which have been shown to occur in discrimination learning along many other stimulus dimensions, may occur also in discrimination along the stimulus dimension of time, i.e. in remembering. Data from operant studies with pigeons and hens have supported this. This book reports a highly novel finding, namely the first evidence for the occurrence of peak shift in a remembering process. When hens were poorly rewarded for correct remembering after a short delay, but richly rewarded for correct remembering after a longer delay, they remembered best after an even longer delay. This phenomenon was not predicted by any traditional theory of memory, and cannot be explained by the century-old standard construct of memory trace decay. This work will interest a wide range of researchers in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, biology, or anyone interested in challenging their thinking with a radically different view of the nature of memory.