Spontaneous alternation in chicks using social reward

Two experiments examining spontaneous alternation in young white Leghorn chicks are reported. In Experiment I chicks (20 per group) run in a T-maze for 4 trials to social reward displayed alternation of responses, whereas nonrewarded chicks did not alternate. In Experiment II socially rewarded chicks (20 per group) again showed reliable alternation of responses whereas food, water, and nonrewarded chicks did not alternate. These data support the premise that spontaneous alternation behavior has some phyletic generality under optimum conditions, although the mechanisms which control it may differ across species.