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Autoshaped key pecking maintained by access to a social space

D B Peele, C B Ferster

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

|September 1, 1982

Summary

Pigeons learned to peck a keylight when it predicted access to a social space. This autoshaping occurred even though the social space itself did not elicit pecking, challenging stimulus-substitution theories.

Area of Science:

Behavioral psychology
Animal cognition
Learning theory

Background:

Autoshaping, a form of associative learning, typically involves pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.
Previous studies have primarily used food or water as unconditioned stimuli.
The role of social stimuli in autoshaping remains less explored.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate autoshaping in pigeons using access to a social space as the unconditioned stimulus.
To determine if key pecking, a conditioned response, differs from the unconditioned response of entering the social space.
To test the validity of the stimulus-substitution account in this context.

Main Methods:

Four experimentally naive pigeons were exposed to forward pairings of a keylight and a doorlight signaling social access.

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A second experiment varied the temporal relationship between the keylight and the doorlight.

Behavioral responses, specifically key pecking and social space entry, were recorded.

Main Results:

All pigeons developed key pecking when the keylight reliably predicted access to the social space.
Key pecking was maintained only when the keylight preceded the social space signal.
Pigeons did not peck the keylight when it was presented independently of the social space signal.
Entering the social space, the unconditioned response, was not elicited by pecking the keylight.

Conclusions:

Autoshaping can be demonstrated with a social-space unconditioned stimulus.
The conditioned response (key pecking) and unconditioned response (social space entry) were distinct.
These findings provide evidence against a simple stimulus-substitution explanation for autoshaping in this paradigm.