Social Inhibition of Operant Behavior in Japanese Quail: The Effect of FR And DRL Schedules

Abstract

Operant key pecking was assessed in Japanese quail during visual exposure to either one male or one female companion under a variety of fixed-ratio (FR) and differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) schedules. Experiment 1 tested eight adult male quail on FR-2, FR-10, and FR-20 schedules of food reinforcement. The results indicated that a criterion FR schedule value exists (FR-20) in which stable social inhibition of key pecking breaks down. Social inhibition of responding during FR-2 and FR-10 performance was essentially the same as that obtained for continuous reinforcement (CRF) in earlier studies. Experiment 2 assessed food-reinforced key pecking in another group of eight adult male quail on DRL-2, DRL-4, DRL-8, DRL-12, and DRL-16 schedules of reinforcement. While a weak social inhibition effect was obtained during DRL-12 performance, the criterion concept was not applicable to these findings since the companion effects during DRL schedules were ambiguous. DRL behavior was found to coincide with established response patterns of pigeons showing increased disinhibition of pecking with increased DRL interval. These data begin to establish the limits under which social inhibition of operant key pecking in quail will occur.