ABSTRACT
In 1948, B.F. Skinner placed eight pigeons in specially designed boxes (now known as Skinner boxes). On one wall was a pad which the pigeons could peck. The box also contained a food dispenser which could be controlled by the experimenter. In previous studies pigeons had learned to obtain food by pecking the pad-i.e. whenever they pecked the pad the food dispenser would produce a food pellet. In this study Skinner adjusted the food dispenser to administer food every 15 seconds regardless of what the pigeons did. Skinner discovered that six of the eight birds responded by adopting repetitive and unusual behaviours. One bird hopped up and down for its food, another bobbed its head repeatedly. When Skinner adjusted the food dispenser to administer food more slowly the head-bobbing bird increased the speed of its head movement. Skinner proposed that he had
created ‘superstitious’ pigeons. Because food had followed headbobbing or hopping, the birds had come to learn that food would always follow that behaviour. Being motivated by food, they repeated the behaviour constantly!
