An operant procedure for testing olfactory capacities in restrained pigeons.
A psychophysical procedure was developed to test the olfactory capacities of the pigeon. The procedure employs symmetrical response contingencies, involves the confinement of the pigeon's head in the stimulus air stream and relies solely on positive reinforcement for the development and maintenance of discriminative responding. The absolute sensitivity of three pigeons to amyl acetate in air was measured. Thresholds for all three pigeons were between 10(-3.4) and 10(-3.6) of vapor saturation.
D000818:Animals; D010856:Columbidae; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D008297:Male; D011601:Psychophysics; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012903:Smell