The effects of fixed-ratio sample requirements on matching to sample in the pigeon

Eight Carneaux pigeons were trained on a zero-delay matching-to-sample task in which 1, 10, 20, or 40 responses were required to the sample before presentation of the comparison stimuli. The results indicated increased speed of acquisition as a direct function of the FR sample requirement. In addition, increasing the number of required sample responses facilitated performance in both delayed matching and in a transfer task in which novel stimuli were introduced. These results are discussed in terms of the strengthening of mediating events associated with each sample.