The effects of reinforcement upon the prepecking behaviors of pigeons in the autoshaping experiment.

The autoshaping procedure confounds the effects of pairing a keylight and food with the effect of adventitious food reinforcement of responses that typically occur before the pecking response. In Experiment I, acquisition of the orientation to the key, the approach toward the key, and the peck at the key were systematically monitored. Orientations to the key and approaches toward the key frequently occurred in contiguity with food presentation before peck acquisition. In Experiment II, a negative contingency procedure was used to assess the sensitivity of the approach toward the key to its consequences. When the approach toward the key resulted in nonreinforcement, the probability of occurrence of that response decreased to zero despite repeated light-food pairings. In Experiment III, peck probability was shown to be determined during the approach toward the key by the presence of stimuli that had previously been either paired or nonpaired with food. In Experiment IV, it was shown that the effects of the stimulus present during the approach toward the key were not due solely to the effects of pairing that stimulus with food. Autoshaped key pecking appears to be determined by the interacting effects of stimulus-reinforcer and response-reinforcer variables upon orientations to, approaches toward, and pecks at the lighted key.