Effects of chemicals on delayed matching behavior in pigeons. III. Effects of triethyltin

The effects of triethyltin (TET) on delayed matching-to-sample performance were studied in male White Carneaux pigeons. Pigeons were trained to peck a red or green center key 15 times to turn it off. After a 2- or 5-sec delay, one side key was illuminated by a red color and the other by a green color. One peck on the side key whose color matched the color that the center key had been, produced food. After performance had stabilized, TET was administered intramuscularly at 3 different dosages (1.75, 3.0 and 5.6 mg/kg) to 3 different groups of birds. Birds received 4 injections of the same dose 2 weeks apart. Responding was totally suppressed in all animals 3 hours after each TET administration at all dosage levels. At 27 and 51 hrs after TET administration, dose-dependent decreases in both matching accuracy and rate of responding were observed. These behavioral changes disappeared in 2 to 3 days.