Abstract
Only 3 of 17 crows developed appreciable responding under autoshaping procedures similar to those which rehably engender responding in pigeons. This occurred despite variations in the following conditions: species of crow (fish or common), fixed vs. variable intertriai interval, duration of intertriai interval, type of reinforcer, level of test chamber illumination, and the presence or absence of a response-re inforcer dependency. Ten of the crows were subsequently exposed to shaping through the method of successive approximation, and all were conditioned to keypeck reliably within a relatively brief period. When three of these crows were again exposed to keylight-food pairings (automaintenance), their responding attenuated over time to near the zero level. An explanation of the behavioral differences between the crows studied here and pigeons studied under similar conditions is offered, based primarily upon differences in the feeding behavior of the two species in their natural environments.
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Powell, R.W., Kelly, W. & Santisteban, D. Response-independent reinforcement in the crow: Failure to obtain autoshaping or positive automaintenance. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 6, 513–516 (1975). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337554
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337554