CONDITIONED AVOIDANCE OF MOBBING CALL BY CHAFFINCHES

A perching response of six male chaffinches was brought under the control of a stimulus light preceding the onset of a tape recording of the mobbing call of another chaffinch. Control sessions on which the stimulus light was tested alone indicated the birds would not escape or avoid the light. When white noise matched for apparent loudness was substituted for the recorded mobbing call, the birds would temporarily escape, however they would not avoid the white noise. Thus, the mobbing call or another chaffinch was an effective negative reinforcer for operant avoidance behaviour of chaffinches, while intermittent white noise was a weak negative reinforcer for escape behaviour only. © 1969.