Socially facilitated drinking behavior in chicks (Gallus domesticus): Relative effects of drive and stimulus mechanisms

Abstract

The drinking behavior of individual chicks (n = 168) was studied in two discrimination situations when the individual was alone or with an audience of merely present (not drinking) or coacting (drinking) conspecifics. In one discrimination task, a familiar and an unfamiliar drinking tube (FU) were presented simultaneously; in the other discrimination task, two unfamiliar tubes (UU) were presented. The coacting audience received a familiar and an unfamiliar tube; their familiar tube was always unfamiliar to the subject. Subjects drank more when conspecifics were present, intake being highest in the presence of coacting conspecifics. Intake was higher in the FU discrimination than in UU. However, in the UU discrimination, individuals that were tested with coactors drank most of their total intake from the tube that was similar to the coactors' familiar tube. In the FU task, individual subjects drank mostly from their familiar tube in each social condition. However, this effect was smaller for those tested with coacting conspecifics than for those tested with merely present conspecifics. © 1986 Psychonomic Society, Inc.