Autoshaping
Autoshaping (sometimes called "sign tracking") is any of a variety of experimental procedures used to study
classical conditioning in pigeons. In its simplest form, autoshaping is very similar to
Pavlov's salivary conditioning procedure using
dogs. In Pavlov's best-known procedure, a short audible tone reliably preceded the presentation of food to dogs. The dogs naturally, unconditionally, salivated (
unconditional response) to the food (
unconditional stimulus) given them, but through learning, conditionally, came to salivate (
conditional response) to the tone (
conditional stimulus) that predicted food (c.f.,
conditioning). In autoshaping a light is reliably turned on shortly before pigeons are given food. The pigeons naturally, unconditionally, peck (
unconditional response) at the food (
unconditional stimulus) given them, but through learning, conditionally, came to peck (
conditional response) at the light source (
conditional stimulus) that predicts food.
See Also