Responding under positive and negative response contingencies in pigeons and crows

Area of Science:

• Behavioral psychology
• Animal cognition

Background:

• Negative automaintenance is a phenomenon where animals continue responding even when it leads to punishment.
• Previous research suggests negative automaintenance is robust across various species.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the generality and strength of negative automaintenance in crows and pigeons.
• To examine how response history influences the persistence of behavior under negative contingencies.

Main Methods:

• Crows were trained to key peck for food under a positive contingency.
• The contingency was shifted to a negative one, where responding terminated the trial and omitted food.
• Pigeons with varying experience levels were exposed to the same contingency shift.

Main Results:

• Crows showed a marked decrease in responding under the negative contingency.
• Naive pigeons rapidly reduced responding, while those with extensive training showed slower declines.
• Most pigeons eventually ceased responding under the negative contingency, but resumed when re-exposed to the positive contingency.

Conclusions:

• The negative automaintenance phenomenon may be less powerful and general than previously assumed.
• Learned behaviors can be extinguished, even under conditions that appear to support negative automaintenance.
• Response history plays a crucial role in the persistence and extinction of learned behaviors.