Ontogeny of passive avoidance learning in domestic chicks: punishment of key-peck and running responses.

Abstract

The effect of the number of prepunishment acquisition trials on the age dependency of passive avoidance (PA) learning of the Vantress X Arbor Acre chick was determined in both key-peck and runway tests. In nine experiments, 1- and 4-day-old chicks were first trained to respond for heat reward, and then, following a variable number of reinforced acquisition trials, the chicks' responses were punished with aversive wing shocks. The major finding of these experiments was that the age dependency of PA learning of the young chick is related specifically to the number of reinforced training trials given prior to PA testing. When a large number of prepunishment acquisition trials were given, 1-day-old chicks learned as quickly as 4-day-old chicks to withhold responding when punished. However, when only a few acquisition trials preceded PA testing, 1-day-old chicks showed significantly less response suppression than 4-day-old chicks. These acquisition effects indicate that the age-dependent changes in PA learning of the chick are not solely due to developmental changes in general inhibitory ability. Rather, these PA results suggest that the 1-day-old chick, compared with the 4-day-old chick, is deficient in learning, or detecting changes in, stimulus- and/or response-reinforcement contingencies.