pigeons
Definition
Pigeons refers to the nonhuman animal subjects used in operant research on choice behavior, particularly in studies employing concurrent variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. In experimental work examining how changeover delays organize responding, pigeons served as the subjects across two experiments using multiple VI 30-s VI 60-s schedules, allowing detailed measurement of preference, dwell time, and molecular response structure. Their pecking behavior under these conditions exhibited clear bout formation, with responding clustering into discrete bursts of rapid pecks following entry into the schedule paired with a changeover delay. Whether these trained response structures transferred to unreinforced probe tests depended on the degree to which the probe procedure preserved discriminative stimulus control over the learned response organization.
Sources: Cleaveland (2026)
Related Terms
- response chunking (1 shared article)
- choice (1 shared article)
- changeover delay (1 shared article)
- variable-interval (1 shared article)
Applications
Pigeons and Concurrent VI VI Schedules
Concurrent VI VI schedules present pigeons with two simultaneously available reinforcement alternatives, and behavior under these conditions tends to organize into bouts rather than strictly alternating responses. In experiments pairing a VI 30-s schedule with a 2.5-s changeover delay against a plain VI 30-s schedule, pigeons showed a stronger peck-based preference for the COD-paired alternative, with a mean preference of 0.85 compared to 0.70 for the non-COD pair. Dwell-time measures told a different story, with the two preferences statistically indistinguishable, indicating that the extra pecks reflected the structure of responding rather than a difference in the perceived value of the schedules.
Sources: Cleaveland (2026)
Pigeons and Changeover Delays
Changeover delays systematically altered how pigeons distributed their responding across alternatives by lengthening stays and suppressing early switching after schedule entry. Pigeons in both experiments spent significantly more time at the VI 30-s schedule when a COD was in effect, with mean dwell times of 12.3 s versus 4.3 s in Experiment 1 and 8.92 s versus 4.66 s in Experiment 2. This temporal reorganization was accompanied by a burst pattern of rapid pecking unique to the COD-paired alternative, consistent with the COD imposing discriminative control over a cohesive response chunk.
Sources: Cleaveland (2026)
Pigeons and Response Chunking
Response chunking in pigeons describes the grouping of individual pecks into larger behavioral units, a pattern documented in concurrent schedule procedures. The changeover delay experiments demonstrated that an external procedural manipulation could impose chunk-like organization on pigeons' responding and bring that structure under stimulus control.
Sources: Cleaveland (2026)
