Stimulus spacing, attention, and dimensional contrast

We examine some implications of an attentional model designed to explain dimensional contrast. Pigeons were trained to discriminate rectangular forms under conditions that produced positive dimensional contrast. In two experiments, the spacing of training stimuli was manipulated in ways that should have changed the allocation of attention. Experiment 1 compared the effect of an increased spacing between negative and positive stimuli with the effect of a decreased overall range of positive stimuli. Both manipulations increased the quality of discrimination performance. Experiment 2 demonstrated that dimensional contrast continued to occur under conditions that minimized the difficulty of the task. Results from these experiments were consistent with quantitative predictions of the attentional model concerning the interaction of discriminability factors and factors related to the allocation of attentional resources.