Abstract
In a procedure intended to determine color preference in pigeons (which partially replicated Catania, Owens, & von Lossberg, 1983), two keys were illuminated by different colors drawn from a set of amber, red, green, or blue stimuli; this was followed by the presentation of grain when either of the two colors was pecked. The grain was illuminated alternately across trials with the colors presented on the keys. In Experiment 1 the intensity of the color stimuli used was not equalized, whereas in Experiment 2 the intensity of the colors was equalized. The low preference for blue found in Experiment 1, as measured by differential key pecking, was not found in Experiment 2. The discriminability of the intensity-equalized colors was confirmed in Experiment 2a, in which equal-intensity color discrimination problems were presented. In Experiment 3, as in Catania et al. (1983), a response-independent reinforcement schedule was used, but with intensity-equalized colors. In contrast to Experiment 2, very low preference for blue was found here and in Experiment 4, which used a within-subject procedure. These findings suggest that pigeon color preference may be a function of intensity, but all controlling variables have not as yet been identified.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Biederman G. B. Stimulus function in simultaneous discrimination. J Exp Anal Behav. 1968 Jul;11(4):459–463. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1968.11-459. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brown P. L., Jenkins H. M. Auto-shaping of the pigeon's key-peck. J Exp Anal Behav. 1968 Jan;11(1):1–8. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1968.11-1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Catania A. C., Owens M. C., Von Lossberg V. Autoshaped responding: A baseline for studying stimulus preference. J Exp Anal Behav. 1983 Mar;39(2):251–256. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1983.39-251. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lander D. G. Stimulus bias in the absence of food reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1968 Nov;11(6):711–714. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1968.11-711. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sahgal A., Iversen S. D. Colour preferences in the pigeon: a behavioural and psychopharmacological study. Psychopharmacologia. 1975 Aug 21;43(2):175–179. doi: 10.1007/BF00421021. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]