Sounds a bit like Billy Baum's old study where he had flocks of wild
pigeons working on a response panel in his attic.
Science 5 July 1974:
Vol. 185. no. 4145, pp. 78 - 79
DOI: 10.1126/science.185.4145.78
Choice in Free-Ranging Wild Pigeons
William M. Baum
Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Massachusetts 02138
A flock of free-ranging wild pigeons were trained to peck at buttons
which, when operated, allowed brief access to grain. Although only
one bird at a time could have access to the buttons, the pecks of the
group were treated as an aggregate. When they chose between two
buttons, each of which could occasionally produce grain, the ratios
of pecks at the buttons approximately equaled the ratios of the grain
presentations obtained from them. This accords with a relation well
substantiated in the laboratory, the matching law. It suggests that
the matching law may apply to the behavior of higher organisms in
natural environments.
On Dec 15, 2008, at 11:36 AM, Christopher D. Green wrote:
> Animal behavior stuff that I picked up in the New York Times yesterday
> that I thought would amuse you.
>
> Best,
> Chris
> ==========
>
>
> Vending Machine for Crows
>
> BY CLAIRE TRAGESER
>
> In June, Josh Klein revealed his master’s-thesis project to a
> flock of crows at the Binghamton Zoo in south-central New York
> State. The New York University graduate student offered the
> birds coins and peanuts from a dish attached to a vending
> machine he’d created, then took the peanuts away. Klein designed
> the machine so that when the crows searched for the missing
> peanuts, they pushed the coins out of a dish into a slot,
> causing more peanuts to be released into the dish. The
> Binghamton crows quickly learned that dropping nickels and dimes
> into the slot produced peanuts, and the most resourceful members
> of the flock began looking for more coins. Within a month, Klein
> had a flock of crows scouring the ground for loose change.
>
> Now Klein is working with graduate students at Cornell
> University and Binghamton University to study how wild crows
> make use of his machine. Although his invention might conjure
> Hitchcock-worthy visions of crows stealing the loose change from
> pedestrians’ pockets and hands, Klein’s conception is more
> benign. To Klein, the machine demonstrates the value of
> cooperating with “synanthropes” — animals that have adapted
> seamlessly to human environments. “Rather than just killing off
> a species, why not see if they can do something useful for us,
> so we can all live in close proximity?” he said. To pursue his
> research, he founded the Synanthropy Foundation this year.
> Someday, he hopes, similar techniques may allow us to train rats
> to sort our garbage for us.
>
>
> ---
> To make changes to your subscription contact:
>
> Bill Southerly ([email protected])
Paul Brandon
Emeritus Professor of Psychology
Minnesota State University, Mankato
[email protected]
---
To make changes to your subscription contact:
Bill Southerly ([email protected])
