Ontogeny of conditioned inhibition in domestic chicks.

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Abstract
Age-dependent changes in learned stimulus inhibitory control, as measured by the combined-cue test, were found in young Vantress .times. Arbor Acre chicks trained to key peck for heat reinforcement. Both 1 and 4 day old chicks were given either 96 or 384 discrete trials in a successive discrimination test, and then their response latencies to the novel combined cue (S+, S-) and the prior S+ cue were compared with those of age-matched controls during extinction. One day old chicks showed significant response suppression to the combined cue only after receiving 384 discrete trials, whereas 4 day old chicks showed significant response suppression after both 96 and 384 trials. While control chicks (S+ training only) of both age groups pecked more quickly at the novel cue than at the prior S+ cue during extinction, only the younger chicks pecked more quickly at the novel cue as the number of their prior S+ responses increased. Even the 1 day old chick has the capacity to acquire learned inhibitory stimulus control but does so at a slower rate than the 4 day old chick.

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