THE GENERALITY OF THE AUTOSHAPEO RESPONSE

The problem.. To determine if autoshaping is restricted to responses which are biologically pre-organized, or if a response which is not overlearned or pre-organized, but is elicited by an appetitive stimulus(grain), can be autoshaped. Procedure. The autoshaped responses of two debeaked pigeons WhIch had developed modified eating responses were compared to responses made by three control subjects which contacted grain normally. Findings. The oontrol sUbjeots exhibited normal keylight responding almost exclusively. The experimental pigeons contacted the key with a percentage of normal and modified responding similar to that directed to grain, though the modified responses were less extreme. Conclusion. The results of this study demonstrate that a component of the modified eating response is directed to a keylight whioh is paired with grain avail-ability.. Recommendations. Further experimentation in this area is neoessary before all the variables whioh oontrol the form of the autoshaped response can be determined