Abstract
Pigeons learned to peck a keylight (S2) when it was paired with a stimulus (S1) that already evoked keypecking. Control procedures showed that S2 acquired control over responding because it was paired with S1 and because S1 had a conditioning history, thereby supporting the claim that S2 was a second-order conditioned stimulus. Second-order conditioning occurred as rapidly when S1 was a keylight as when it was a tone. Test procedures showed that after second-order conditioning, responding to S2 was markedly debilitated by the extinction of responding to S1, indicating that the ability of S2 to evoke a response importantly depends upon the continued ability of S1 to do so. Our demonstration that directed motor action in the pigeon is susceptible to second-order conditioning suggests a new interpretation of conditioned reinforcement in instrumental learning. Our demonstration that the effectiveness of S2 depends upon the continued effectiveness of S1 indicates that S-S associations are formed in this version of the second-order conditioning experiment.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Reference Notes
Rashotte, M. E., & Griffin, R. W.Second-order appetitive conditioning in the pigeon. Paper presented at the meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Boston, November 1974.
Griffin, R. W., & Rashotte, M. E.Higher-order conditioning of stimulus-directed pecking in pigeons. Paper presented at the meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Hollywood, Florida, May 1974.
Rescorla, R. A.Second-order conditioning. Invited address to the meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, May 1976.
References
Barrera, F. J. Centrifugal selection of signal-directed pecking.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1974,22, 341–355.
Brows, P. L., &Jenkins, H. M. Auto-shaping of the pigeon’s keypeck.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1968,11, 1–8.
Ferster, C. B., &Skinner, B. F. Schedules of reinforcement. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1957.
Fleshler, M.. &Hoffman, H. S. A progression for generating variable interval schedules.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1962,5, 529–530.
Frolov, Y. P. Pavlov and his school. New York: Oxford University Press, 1937.
Gamzu, E., &Williams, D. R. The source of keypecking in autoshaping.Animal Learning & Behavior, 1975,3, 37–42.
Grastyán, E., &Vereczkei, L. Effects of spatial separation of the conditioned signal from the reinforcement: A demonstration of the conditioned character of the orienting response or the orientational character of conditioning.Behavioral Biology, 1974,10, 121–146.
Griffin, R. W., &Rashotte, M. E. A note on the negative auto-maintenance procedure.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1973,1, 178–180.
Hearst, E., &Jenkins, H. M. Sign-tracking. Austin: Psychonomic Society, 1974.
Hendry, D. P. (Ed.)Conditioned reinforcement. Homewood: Dorsey Press, 1969.
Holland, P. C., &Rescorla, R. A. Second-order conditioning with food unconditioned stimulus.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1975,88, 45q-467. (a)
Holland, P. C., &Rescorla, R. A. The effect of two ways of devaluing the unconditioned stimulus after first- and second-order appetitive conditioning.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 1975,1, 355–363. (b)
Hull, C. L. Principles of behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1943.
Konorski, J. Conditioned reflexes and neuron organization. London: Cambridge University Press, 1948.
Moore, B. R. The role of directed Pavlovian reactions in simple instrumental learning in the pigeon. In R. A. Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.),Constraints on learning. London: Academic Press, 1973.
Patterson, D. D., &Winokur, S. Autoshaping pigeons’ key-pecking with a conditioned reinlbrcer.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1973,1, 247–249.
Pavlov, I. P. Conditioned reflexes. London: Oxford University Press, 1927.
Razran, G. A note on second-order conditioning—and secondary reinforcement.Psychological Review, 1955,62, 327–332.
Reberg, D. Compound tests for excitation in early acquisition and after prolonged extinction of conditioned suppression.Learning and Motivation, 1972,3, 246–258.
Rescorla, R. A. Pavlovian conditioning and its proper control procedures.Psychological Review, 1967,74, 71–80.
Rescorla, R. A. Pavlovian conditioned inhibition.Psychological Bulletin, 1969,72, 77–94.
Rescorla, R. A. Second-order conditioning: Implications for theories of learning. In F. J. McGuigan & D. B. Lumsden (Eds.),Contemporary approaches to conditioning and learning. New York: Wiley, 1973. (a)
Rescorla, R. A. Effect of US habituation following conditioning.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1973,82, 137–143. (b)
Rescorla, R. A., &Heth, C. D. Reinstatement of fear to an extinguished conditioned stimulus.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 1975,1, 88–96.
Rizley, R. C., &Rescorla, R. A. Associations in second-order conditioning and in sensory preconditioning.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1972,81, 1–11.
Rozeboom, W. W. “What is learned?”—An empirical enigma.Psychological Bulletin, 1958,65, 22–33.
Schwartz, B. Maintenance of key pecking by response-independent food presentation: The role of the modality of the signal for food.Journal of the Experimental A nalysis of Behavior, 1973,20, 17–22.
Sheffield, F. D. Relations between classical conditioning and instrumental learning. In W. F. Prokasy (Ed.),Classical conditioning. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1965.
Skinner, B. F. The behavior of organisms. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1938.
Stepień, I. The magnet reaction, a symptom of prefrontal ablation.Acta Neurobiologica Experimentalis, 1974,34, 145–160.
Wasserman, E. A. Auto-shaping: The selection and direction of behavior by predictive stimuli. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1072.
Wike, E. L. Secondary reinforcement. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.
Williams, D. R., &Williams, H. Auto-maintenance in the pigeon: Sustained pecking despite contingent non-reinforcement.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1969,12, 511–520.
Zentall, T. R., &Hogan, D. E. Key pecking in pigeons produced by pairing keylight with inaccessible grain.Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1975,23, 199–206.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported in part by NIMH Training Grant MH-11218. Experiments 1 and 2 were reported at the 1974 meeting of the Psychonomic Society and Experiments 3 and 4 were reported at the 1975 meeting. Experiments 3 and 4 are based on a thesis by C.L.S. which fulfilled part of the requirements for the MS degree at Florida State University, March, 1976.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rashotte, M.E., Griffin, R.W. & Sisk, C.L. Second-order conditioning of the pigeon’s keypeck. Animal Learning & Behavior 5, 25–38 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209127
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209127