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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1980 Nov;34(3):305–318. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1980.34-305

Second-order autoshaped key pecking based on an auditory stimulus.

J S Burt, R F Westbrook
PMCID: PMC1333009  PMID: 7452133

Abstract

In Experiment 1, pigeons were exposed either to paired or to unpaired presentations of a tone and grain, and then to paired presentations of a keylight with the tone. Substantial second-order conditioned pecking to the keylight was produced in the birds that had received paired presentations of tone and grain. In Experiment 2, second-order pecking to the keylight increased in probability across four groups that had received, respectively, 20, 80, 140, or 200 paired presentations of tone and grain. In Experiment 3, the amount of pecking directed towards a keylight which predicted the first-order, tone CS was as substantial in birds without a prior history of key pecking as in birds with such a history. A further experiment failed to discover any significant differences in the levels of second-order pecking to a keylight paired with a first-order tone CS or with a first-order keylight CS. Thus, an auditory signal that does not itself support pecking may enable a localized visual stimulus to evoke key pecking.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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