Prof John M Pearce FRS - BSc Leeds DPhil Sussex
Research Summary
My research is concerned with understanding the fundamental mechanisms of intelligence in animals, with particular emphasis placed on learning. With Geoffrey Hall, from the University of York, I have developed an original theory concerning the role that attention plays in learning. According to this theory, animals will pay attention to a task while they learn about it, but once it has been mastered, they will direct their attention elsewhere. I have also developed a theory about the information animals acquire when a pattern of stimulation is repeatedly used to signal an important event, such as food. The pattern of stimulation is assumed to be remembered as a sort of mental snapshot, based on all the information that was present immediately prior to the occurrence of food.
Most of the foregoing research is based on experiments conducted in test chambers that provide a well controlled environment for studying the fundamental mechanisms of animal intelligence. Other research of mine is exploring the extent to which the principles derived from this research extends to more naturalistic settings, such as navigating through familiar territory to locate a hidden goal. Thus far, the principles appear to apply reasonably well to both types of environment.
Teaching Summary
I offer a series of lectures on animal intelligence for the Biological Psychology module in Year 1. In Year 2, I present a practical on perception. In Year 3, I contribute to the Animal Learning and Cognition module.
Selected Publications (2008 onwards)
Dopson, J., Williams, N. A., Esber, G. R. & Pearce, J. M. (in press). Enhanced attention to stimuli that consistently signal the absence of reinforcement. Learning and Behavior.
Pearce, J. M. & Mackintosh, N. J. (in press). Two theories of attention: A review and a possible integration. In C. Mitchell and M.E. LePelley (Eds.) Attention and Learning, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Horne, M. R., Iordanova, M. D., Albasser, M. M., Aggleton, J. P. Honey, R. C., & Pearce, J. M. (in press). Lesions of the perirhinal cortex do not impair integration of visual and geometric information in rats. Behavioral Neuroscience
Pearce, J. M. & Mackintosh, N. J. (in press). Two theories of attention: A review and a possible integration. In C. Mitchell and M.E. LePelley (Eds.) Attention and Learning, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Haselgrove, M., Esber, G. R., Pearce, J. M., & Jones, P. M. (2010). Two kinds of attention in Pavlovian conditioning: Evidence for a hybrid model of learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, in press.
Horne, M. R., & Pearce, J. M. (in press). Conditioned inhibition and superconditioning in an environment with a distinctive shape. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, in press.
Aggleton, J. P., Albasser, M. M., Aggleton, D. J., Poirier, G. L., & Pearce, J. M. (2010). Lesions of the rat perirhinal cortex spare the acquisition of a complex configural visual discrimination yet impair object recognition. Behavioral Neuroscience, 124, 55-68.
Dopson, J. C., Esber, G. R., & Pearce, J. M. (in press). Differences in the associability of relevant and irrelevant stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes
Horne, M. R., & Pearce, J. M. (2009). Between-cue associations influence searching for a hidden goal in an environment with a distinctive shape. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 35, 99-107.
McGregor, A., Horne, M. ., Esber, G. O., & Pearce, J. M. (2009). Absence of overshadowing between a landmark and geometric cues in a distinctively shaped environment: A test of Miller and Shettleworth (2007). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 35, 357-371.
Horne, M. R., & Pearce, J. M. (2009). A landmark blocks searching for a hidden platform in an environment with a distinctive shape after extended pre-training. Learning and Behavior, 37, 167-178.
Dopson, J. C., Pearce, J. M. & Haselgrove, M. (2009). Failure of retrospective revaluation to influence blocking. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 35, 473-484.
Esber, G. R., Pearce, J. M., & Haselgrove, M. (2009). Enhancement of Responding to A Following A+ / AX+ Training: Challenges for a Comparator-Theory of Learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 35, 485-497.
Pearce, J. M. (2009). An associative analysis of spatial learning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62, 1665-1684.
Aggleton, J. P., Poirier, G. L., Aggleton, H. S., Vann, S. D., & Pearce, J. M. (2009). Lesions of the fornix and anterioir thalamic nuclei dissociate different aspects of hippocampal-dependent spatial learning: Implications for the neural basis of scene learning. Behavioral Neuroscience, 123, 504-519.
Pearce, J. M., Esber, G. R., George, D. N., & Haselgrove, M. (2008). The nature of discrimination learning in pigeons. Learning and Behavior, 36, 188-199.
Pearce, J. M. (2008). Animal Learning and Cognition: An Introduction. Third Edition. Hove: Psychology Press
Kyd, R.J., Pearce, J.M., Haselgrove, M., Amin, E, & Aggleton, J. P. (2008). The effects of hippocampal system lesions on a novel temporal discrimination task for rats, Behavioural Brain Research, 187(1), 159-171. [pdf]
Mui, R., Haselgrove, M., Pearce, J. M., & Heyes, C. (2008). Automatic imitation in budgerigars. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B, 275, 2547-2553.
Haselgrove, M., Robinson, J., Nelson, A., & Pearce, J. M. (2008). Analysis of an ambiguous-feature discrimination. Quarterly Journal of ExperimentalPsychology, 61, 1710-1725.