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Related Experiment Videos

Failure to replicate the 'work ethic" effect in pigeons.

Marco Vasconcelos1, Peter J Urcuioli, Karen M Lionello-DeNolf

  • 1Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 703 Third Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2081, USA. marcov@psych.purdue.edu

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|June 20, 2007
PubMed
Summary
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Replication attempts failed to confirm the pigeon "work ethic" phenomenon. Pigeons showed indifference between high- and low-effort stimuli, questioning prior findings and explanations.

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral psychology
  • Animal cognition
  • Operant conditioning

Background:

  • The
  • work ethic
  • phenomenon suggests animals may prefer high-effort tasks.
  • Previous research indicated pigeons exhibit such a preference.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To replicate the ,
  • work ethic
  • phenomenon in pigeons.
  • To investigate the underlying mechanisms, specifically within-trial contrast.

Main Methods:

  • Six experiments involving pigeons learning simultaneous discriminations.
  • Stimuli (S+ and S-) were contingent on single or multiple pecks (20 or 40).
  • Preference tests assessed choices between high- and low-effort stimuli; Experiment 6 assessed relative aversiveness.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Pigeons showed indifference between high- and low-effort S+ stimuli and between S- stimuli.
  • Experiment 6 also revealed indifference, despite longer initiation times for high-effort trials.
  • No evidence supported a preference for high-effort over low-effort conditions.

Conclusions:

  • The original ,
  • work ethic
  • findings were not replicated.
  • The hypothesized within-trial contrast mechanism is insufficient to explain the phenomenon.
  • The reliability of the original findings is questionable.