Temporal patterns of reinforcer-induced general activity and attack in pigeons

Three White King pigeons were exposed to fixed-time schedules ranging from 60 to 240 sec. General activity and attack against a conspecific target were measured separately at each interreinforcer interval value. Comparison of the temporal distributions of activity and attack revealed significant differences in their temporal locus and overall distribution between reinforcer presentations. At all interval values, attack was localized to the postreinforcer period, and peaked at the same absolute time (5-10 sec) following each reinforcer presentation. General activity was more uniformly distributed between reinforcers, and the peak level occurred later in the interval. As the interval length increased, peak levels of activity shifted to later times following reinforcement. These differences question traditional accounts which posit a unitary process underlying induced behaviors, while supporting Cohen, Looney, Campagnoni and Lawler's recent two-state model of induced behaviors.