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Amelioration of Laboratory Conditions for Pigeons (Columba Livia)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

L Huber
L Huber*
Affiliation:
Department of Theoretical Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
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Abstract

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Learning tests in animal psychology are highly standardized with regard to both the formulation of scientific questions and the methods employed to obtain reliable answers. The Skinnerian technique of conditioning rats or pigeons in small test chambers has established itself as the main laboratory method in this field. Despite the undeniable advantages of highly controlled and manipulated test conditions, a number of problems with respect to the welfare of the test animals arise from the standard application of this method. These problems are specified here along with the presentation of new techniques that have been developed at the University of Vienna. The methodological improvements are related to the housing, testing and weighing of the pigeons and ameliorate the conditions these animals previously confronted within the laboratory.

Keywords

animal welfareconditioninglearning testsoutdoor housingpigeonsSkinner Box
Type
Technical Contribution
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 3 , Issue 4 , November 1994 , pp. 321 - 324
Copyright
© 1994 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Huber, L and Lenz, R 1993 A test of the linear feature model of polymorphous concept discrimination with pigeons. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 46B 1: 1–18Google Scholar