Pavlov's Chicken: A Study in Classical Conditioning

Overview

Objectives/Goals My objective was to determine if chickens will exhibit the conditioned response of coming to the gate with the ringing of a telephone. Methods/Materials My hens (127 total; 64 Leghorns, 63 Brown hens) were already conditioned to come to the fence when I appear .. knowing that I will feed them a treat of scratch feed. I rang the telephone without me present to make sure the hens did not come to the gate with a bell alone. I did this for two days. I then rang the bell AND feed them scratch, at the same time, and did this once daily for 3 weeks. I then rang the telephone without me present and observed results through a fence to see if they exhibited a conditioned response to a bell. Results When the telephone alone was rang - 67% of the Leghorn hens and 78% of the Brown hens exhibited the conditioned response of coming to the fence. Conclusions/Discussion I accepted my hypothesis of Hens Will Exhibit the Conditioned Response of Coming to the Fence when the Bell From a Telephone is Rang. Not all of the hens came to the fence, however a majority from each breed did. From my conclusions, I have three new possibilities that dovetail from my findings. I am anxious to discuss these and do follow up studies.

Competition history

• CSEF 2006 Zoology · Entry J1908

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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