This film is a short segment of Cognition, Creativity, and Behavior: The Columban Simulations, which highlighted Robert Epstein's graduate research under B. F. Skinner. The film was published in 1982 by Research Press, and although it appears to be out of print now, it did get wide play in its day. I regularly showed it in Intro Psychology courses.
The pigeon in the video had prior training in (1) knocking the red box toward targets (not a banana) posted around the sides of the chamber, (2) pecking at a banana that was suspended in the chamber—low enough to be reached—and (3) jumping onto the red box when it was presented without a target. What you are watching is the first session in which the box appeared without its associated target and the banana was placed too high up in the chamber to be reached. As can be seen the pigeon solves the problem in one minute and five seconds. The "insightful" behavior of the pigeon was created when the bird spontaneously linked three prior repertoires together to solve the problem. Skinner and Epstein argued that Sultan would also have had extensive prior experience moving objects, etc, and that insightful behavior was just the linking of prior repertoires together as the environment demanded. SV Stuart Vyse Web: http://stuartvyse.com Professor of Psychology http://www.thesvblog.com Connecticut College Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 270 Mohegan Avenue Phone: 860-439-2339 New London, CT 06320 Fax: 860-439-5300 > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Subject: Re: Pigeon and a Red Block > From: "William Scott" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:05:32 -0400 > X-Message-Number: 4 > > Are we supposed to assume that the pigeon did not have any insight > because it did pigeon like things in getting to the goal? Or should > we assume that insight as displayed by Sultan is available to many > species, including pigeons? If Skinner's bird was not shaped to do > what it did, then I am willing to believe that the pigeon here > demonstrates insight as well as Sultan did (perhaps not the best > demonstration of insight, but certainly not contradicted by showing > other species doing the same thing). But what is the behaviorist > argument from this pigeon behavior? If the pigeon wasn't shaped to > do this, then it is hardly good evidence at all against the > phenomenon of "insight" in animals if one believes Sultan's behavior > demonstrates such things. If the pigeon was shaped, then I am having > trouble seeing the point other than the point Skinner liked to make > that you can get animals to appear to be intelligent when they are > not, like having pigeons peck to a sign that says "Peck" and > to not peck in the presence of a sign that says "Don't Peck". > Perhaps that is why this video was made, and also why it has not had > wide distribution. > > >>>> "Christopher D. Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 04/19/08 7:20 PM >>> > I had never seen this Skinner video before, but it is a very clever > piece of anti-Gestalt propaganda. It shows a pigeon which is unable to > reach a banana that is hung from the top of its enclosure. The pigeon > has to move a small box across the floor and stand on it in order to > reach the banana, just like Sultan the chimp did on Tenerif(f)e. > http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-379689165140339264&hl=en > > Chris Green > York U. > Toronto > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
