Approach and Withdrawal Behavior in Pavlovian Aversive Conditioning in the PigeonI

Abstract

Groups of pigeons were exposed to several types of correlations between keylightand shocks, the pigeons' behavior was measured as approach or withdrawal from thekeylight. Experiment 1 showed that a signalled avoidance task is learned faster whenthe instrumental response is to withdraw from the signal than when it is to approach thesignal. Experiment 2 showed withdrawal behavior from the keylight in a purely Pavlovianprocedure, but faíled to show the approach towards a Pavlovian inhibitor. Experiment 3showed approach to a keylight between-sessions negatively correlated with shocks,whereas such a behavior was not observed in control groups. Thus, both Pavlovian excitersand inhibitors can elicit behavior which reflect the hedonic consequences of the presentationand omission of a reinforcer.