IMITATIVE CHOICE BEHAVIOR IN GUPPIES

Abstract

In a two choice situation guppies (Poecilia reticulata ) were tested to see if they would tend to follow, without manifest reinforcement, the proficient(s) which had been avoidance trained to swim, and also if they could, when responding alone, behave in the same way as the proficients to follow the same cue-light that had guided the proficients' choice behavior. In Experiment I, the effect of the number of proficients was examined. The results indicated that increasing the number of proficients enhanced not only the following responses but also the imitative responses to the cue-light. Experiment II was conducted to examine the effect of extraneous shocks. The results showed that the following responses decreased rapidly if shocks were not given, but the following responses were maintained at the initial level if shocks were given