Memory formation in birds: 1. Avoidance conditioning of the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) to sound stimuli

A system is described for avoidance conditioning of the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), for sound patterns consisting of one or two sequential subunits and to discriminate between two closely resembling sounds. Electric shock was used as the unconditioned stimulus. Simple conditioning was accomplished in about 300-400 trials. After a given sound pattern was firmly fixed by conditioning, discrimination between this and a new sound pattern was established relatively rapidly by using several consecutive sessions in which the two patterns were mixed. Discrimination was reinforced by associating the two signals by opposing electric shocks. An overnight rest period after the first few sessions improved the rate of conditioning during the following experimental period. A temporary, partial or complete extinction of conditioning was produced by longer rest intervals, but the original conditioning was reestablished by subjecting the animal to a few trials of reconditioning. Short intercalations of a new conditioned stimulus had no effect on the retention of the original conditioning whereas a random mixing of the first conditioned stimulus with a second produced a temporary decay in the original conditioning. The experimental system described here is useful for studying physiological and biochemical changes accompanying a memory process based on a linear sequence of sound patterns.