Effect of similarity between rearing and testing conditions on chicks following and avoidance responses.

Abstract

Domestic chicks were reared in isolation for 3 days from hatching and then exposed individually to a moving object. 31 birds were exposed to a model with the same pattern as that of the rearing pen and 31 to a model with a different pattern. Ss tested on a similar model to their home pen avoided it for a significantly shorter period and responded positively to it sooner than did Ss tested on a dissimilar model. These results indicate that Ss learned the details of their isolation pens and were able to discriminate between them and dissimilar objects.