The ‘superstition’ experiment: A reexamination of its implications for the principles of adaptive behavior
Staddon and Simmelhag repeated and extended the pigeon superstition procedure. They found interim activities soon after food, which varied between birds, and a terminal response later in the interval, usually pecking at the feeder wall, that continued until food arrived and followed the likelihood of food at each moment. They concluded that reinforcement works mainly by selection among behaviours rather than by accidentally strengthening whatever preceded food.
Staddon and Simmelhag repeated and extended the pigeon superstition procedure. They found interim activities soon after food, which varied between birds, and a terminal response later in the interval, usually pecking at the feeder wall, that continued until food arrived and followed the likelihood of food at each moment. They concluded that reinforcement works mainly by selection among behaviours rather than by accidentally strengthening whatever preceded food.
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Staddon, J. E. R., & Simmelhag, V. L. (1971). The ‘superstition’ experiment: A reexamination of its implications for the principles of adaptive behavior. Psychological Review, 78(1), 3-43. doi:10.1037/h0030305 https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030305