Transition to a steady state of repeated acquisition

Pigeons obtained food reinforcement via a four-response chain that require pecking different keys in the presence of different colors. The sequence of correct key positions changed from session to session. Errors gradually decreased across sessions until a constant minimum range of variability in error levels was reached (steady state). Other characteristics of the transition and steady state of repeated acquisition (e.g., within-session rate of error reduction) were described. © 1971, Psychonomic Journals, Inc.. All rights reserved