Abstract
The neuropharmacology and neuroanatomy of the domestic chicken (both developing and mature) has been described in detail. In addition, a wide variety of behavioral tasks has been used to study learning in chicks. In order to increase their usefulness as subjects in psychobiological experiments, we examined them in a paradigm where learning occurs gradually and the chicks are immobile. We demonstrate here that a nictitating membrane response conditioning paradigm can be successfully used with 4-day-old chicks. The response is robust and discrete enough to be manipulated in later work predicting relations between neuronal and behavioral events.
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This study was partially supported by the V.A. Medical Research Service, by a National Institute of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship (1 F02 NS55862-01) to Steven R. Coates, and by NSF Grant BNS76-17370 to R. F. Thompson. We gratefully acknowledge the support of Richard F. Thompson, Department of Psychobiology, University of California, Irvine.
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Davis, J.L., Coates, S.R. Classical conditioning of the nictitating membrane response in the domestic chick. Psychobiology 6, 7–10 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326682
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03326682