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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Recording Single Neurons' Action Potentials from Freely Moving Pigeons Across Three Stages of Learning
Published on: June 2, 2014
The "lunching" effect: pigeons track motion towards food more than motion away from it
Felipe Cabrera1, Federico Sanabria, David Shelley
1Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104, USA.
Abstract:
Four experiments measured pigeons' pecking at a small touch-screen image (the CS) that moved towards or away from a source of food (the US). The image's effectiveness as a CS was dependent on its motion, direction, and distance relative to the US. Pecking to the CS increased with proximity to the US when the CS moved towards the US (Experiment 1). This held true even when a departing CS signalled a US of greater magnitude (Experiment 2). Response rates to stationary stimuli were greater the closer they were to the hopper; but rate was less than when the same spot was part of a motion towards food, and greater than when it was part of a motion away (Experiment 3). The rate of responding in all three cases (motion towards, stationary, motion away) decreased exponentially with distance from the hopper. The distance and motion effects observed under these Pavlovian contingencies were different when pecking to the spot was required for reinforcement (Experiment 4).
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