[email protected] wrote:
Are pigeons preferred in demonstrating conditioning principles than rats or vice versa?
It depends on the phenomenon under investigation. One advantage of pigeons is that they are very long-lived. You can run a variety of parametric manipulations for years without worrying that your subjects may die of old age. They also produce a wider range of response rates--which makes it easier to demonstrate differences.
On the other hand, about all pigeons can do easily is peck at objects. Rats can press levers, turn wheels, jump, swim, run in wheels, run through mazes, pull on strings, etc.
Many people who work with rats for a long time develop various kinds of allergic reactions to the rats. The incidence of allergic reactions to pigeons is lower in my experience. But pigeons are a source of histoplasmosis (and other nasty infections) due to the inhalation of fecal material in the clouds of "pigeon dust" that are produced when one walks into a colony.
Rats can bite but pigeons have soft beaks that can't break the skin. (But don't run with a pigeon or you may put out an eye.)
Ken --------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [email protected] Professor and Assistant Chairperson Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA --------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
