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Title: | Some Effects of Unconditional Reinforcement in the Pigeon |
Authors: | Brown, Paul L. |
Advisor: | Jenkins, H.M. |
Department: | Occupational Therapy |
Publication Date: | May-1968 |
Abstract: | <p>Reliable acquisition of the pigeon's key-peck and development of observing responses (defined as any response which exposes an organism to discriminative stimuli) resulted after repeated unconditional (response independent) presentations of food after a response key was momentarily illuminated. Comparison groups showed that the acquisition of key-pecking was dependent upon light-food pairings, in that order. When compared with hand-shaping, the present method saves time and labor and produces the key-peck with surprising regularity. A technique for the measurement of observing responses in the same situation was developed. Use of the technique revealed that observing responses developed prior to key-pecking and both forms of behavior were maintained despite the absence of differential reinforcement. Pigeons preferred to view a stimulus which predicted that reinforcement was forthcoming rather than a similar non-informative stimulus. The simplicity of implementation and rapidity with which results may be gathered, recommend this technique for further investigation of the features which support observing responses.</p> |
Description: | Title: Some Effects of Unconditional Reinforcement in the Pigeon, Author: Paul L. Brown, Location: Thode |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/20817 |
Appears in Collections: | Digitized Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Brown_Paul_L_1968_05_phd.pdf | Title: Some Effects of Unconditional Reinforcement in the Pigeon, Author: Paul L. Brown, Location: Thode | 45.79 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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