Blocking the acquisition of control by an auditory stimulus with pretraining on brightness

Abstract

One group of pigeons. Group TL1-L2, were rewarded for pecking a lighted response key in the presence of a tone and were not rewarded for pecking a less bright response key in the presence of noise. A second group of pigeons. Group (L1-L2)(TL1-L2), were similarly treated after first being given extensive pretraining with noise and the brighter light on positive trials and noise and the duller light on negative trials. Tests for stimulus control revealed strong control by tone in Group TL1-L2 and very little control by tone in Group (TL1-L2)-(TL1-L2). Control by brightness in Group TL1-L2 was less than in Group (L1-L2)(TL1-L2).