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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1980 Nov;34(3):319–328. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1980.34-319

Mirror pecking and timeout under a multiple fixed-ratio schedule of food delivery

Nancy A Ator
PMCID: PMC1333010  PMID: 16812192

Abstract

Pigeons were trained to peck a key under a multiple fixed-ratio 25 fixed-ratio 175 schedule of food presentation. In the first condition, either a mirror or the opportunity to produce a 30-second timeout were available. In a second condition, mirror and timeout availability were reversed for the two groups. Following a return to the initial condition, mirror and timeout keys were presented together for all birds. Mirror and timeout responses occurred predominantly in the pause in the larger fixed-ratio component, regardless of whether the opportunities for the two responses were available singly or together. Mirror responding occurred in a greater proportion of the pauses than did timeouts. When the opportunities for both mirror pecking and timeout were available concurrently, they occurred with probabilities similar to those under the single conditions. Within the pause itself, mirror responses most frequently occurred immediately after reinforcement. Timeouts occurred most frequently toward the end of the pause, and some timeouts occurred in the early part of the run. Longer preratio pausing occurred in the larger fixed-ratio component in the conditions in which the mirror was present, whether or not any mirror pecks were recorded.

Keywords: adjunctive behavior, schedule-induced aggression, schedule-induced escape, timeout from reinforcement, mirror attack, multiple schedules, fixed-ratio schedule, pausing, key peck, pigeons

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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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