Sexual Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior in male Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica).

Abstract

A localized visual stimulus presented immediately prior to access to a female conspecific stimulated approach behavior in male Japanese quail after several conditioning trials. Development of this conditioned approach behavior was observed with two different types of signal lights, 10-s and 30-s signal durations, large and small experimental chambers, and with male birds housed continually in the conditioning chambers or only placed in the chamber for brief daily sessions. Conditioning also resulted in shorter latencies to initiate copulation in males given access to a female following the signal light, in comparison with males that received access to a female unannounced by the light. Although some aspects of the conditioning experience were retained over a 6-week interval, some loss of the behavior was also observed. The conditioned behavior also decreased with repeated extinction trials, during which the signal light was presented in the absence of access to a female conspecific. The results are discussed in relation to other aspects of the social behavior of Japanese quail and other studies of sexual conditioning.

Performance of appetitive or consummatory components of male sexual behavior is mediated by different brain areas: a 2-deoxyglucose autoradiographic study

“…17,18,22,[46][47][48] The control birds in which the view of the female was not paired with copulatory opportunity never developed this behavior. After approximately four training tests, the ASB and CSB birds were reliably expressing the learned response and were spending most of the test time in front of the window providing visual access to the female.…”

“…In Japanese quail, appetitive sexual behavior (ASB) has been studied with the use of a variety of learning procedures developed by Domjan and his colleagues. [45][46][47] This behavior is testosterone-dependent, as demonstrated by the fact that low levels of circulating testosterone induced by exposing males to short photoperiods 39,76,83 or by surgical castration prevent the acquisition of the learned social proximity response commonly used to quantify ASB. 22,45 Moreover, males transferred from long days to short days will extinguish a previously acquired response.…”

Learning with arbitrary versus ecological conditioned stimuli: Evidence from sexual conditioning

“…The typical outcome is that conditioned responding declines during the course of the extinction trials. In keeping with these f indings, early work with an arbitrary light CS showed that sexually conditioned approach behavior declined during a series of CS-alone extinction trials (Domjan et al, 1986). In a recent study, Krause, Cusato, and Domjan (2003) compared extinction with an arbitrary and a naturalistic CS.…”

“…In the first such study, Farris (1967) presented a buzzer to male quail just before giving them access to a sexually receptive female and found that the buzzer CS came to elicit courtship responses. Domjan, Lyons, North, and Bruell (1986) failed to replicate the conditioningof courtship behavior but found that males would approach and remain near an arbitrary visual CS (a light) that had been paired with sexual reinforcement. Subsequent research showed that this conditioned approach behavior is not disrupted by an omission contingency and is, therefore, not instrumentally mediated (Crawford & Domjan, 1993).…”

“…These include acquisition, extinction, renewal, blocking, CS-US interval effects, trace conditioning,simple and conditionaldiscrimination learning, conditioned inhibition, context conditioning, US devaluation effects, observational conditioning, and second-order conditioning (Akins & Domjan, 1996;Burns & Domjan, 2000;Crawford & Domjan, 1995Domjan, Akins, & Vandergriff, 1992;Domjan, Greene, & North, 1989;Domjan et al, 1986;Domjan, O'Vary, & Greene, 1988;Gean, Matthews, Krause, & Domjan, 2004;Holloway & Domjan, 1993;Köksal & Domjan, 1998;Köksal, Domjan, & Weisman, 1994).…”