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27 - Perceptual Categorization in Pigeons

from Part V - Numerical and Quantitative Abilities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2021

By
Olga F. Lazareva
Edited by
Allison B. Kaufman ,
Josep Call  and
James C. Kaufman
Allison B. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Josep Call
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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Summary

This chapter reviews research on visual categorization in pigeons including (1) basic-level categories, members of which are perceptually similar to each other (e.g., car or chair), (2) subordinate-level categories representing a subclass of a basic level category (e.g.,office chair or sports car), and (3) superordinate-level categories comprising several basic-level categories (e.g., furniture or vehicle).Current research convincingly demonstrates pigeons’ ability to form these categories. Moreover, pigeons’ basic-level categories appear to be similar to those of humans. However, the extent of similarity between superordinate-level and subordinate-level categories in pigeons and humans is not yet clear.

Keywords

categorizationpigeonsbasicsuperordinatesubordinatefunctional equivalence
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Animal Cognition , pp. 621 - 636
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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