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Pre-crastination in the pigeon.

Edward A Wasserman1, Stephen J Brzykcy

  • 1Department of Psychology, The University of Iowa, E11 Seashore Hall, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA, ed-wasserman@uiowa.edu.

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
|November 2, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers discovered "pre-crastination," the urge to start tasks early, in pigeons. This behavior, completing tasks sooner rather than later, challenges traditional theories of behavioral adaptation.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral science
  • Animal cognition

Background:

  • Procrastination is the tendency to delay tasks.
  • Pre-crastination is the opposite behavior, initiating tasks as soon as possible.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if pre-crastination is a general phenomenon beyond humans.
  • To test for pre-crastination in pigeons using a behavioral task.

Main Methods:

  • A two-alternative forced-choice task was designed for pigeons.
  • Pigeons could choose to switch response locations earlier or later in a sequence.

Main Results:

  • Pigeons consistently chose to switch response locations sooner.
  • This preference for earlier task initiation occurred without economic advantage.

Conclusions:

  • Pre-crastination is a general behavior observed in pigeons.
  • This challenges rational or optimal models of behavioral adaptation, suggesting anticipatory learning.