Time-sharing in pigeons: Independent effects of gap duration, position and discriminability from the timed signal

Previous data suggest that in a peak-interval procedure with gaps, memory for the pre-gap interval varies with the discriminability of the gap from the to-be-timed signal. Here we extend this finding by manipulating the pre-gap and gap intervals as well as the visual contrast between the gap and the to-be-timed signal. The delay in response function after the gap was found to vary with the duration and position of the gap. However, for each gap duration and position, the delay in response increased with the gap–signal contrast: at 60% gap–signal contrast pigeons continued to accumulate time during the gap, at 80% gap–signal contrast pigeons stopped timing during the gap, and at 100% gap–signal contrast pigeons reset their timing after the gap. Data are accounted for by a time-sharing model assuming two concurrent processes during the gap – time accumulation and memory decay controlled by the salience of the gap – whose interplay results in a continuum of responses in the gap procedure.