SIGN TRACKING VERSUS GOAL TRACKING IN THE SEXUAL CONDITIONING OF MALEJAPANESE-QUAIL (COTURNIX JAPONICA)

Pairings of a conditioned (CS) and unconditioned (US) stimulus can res ult in approach to either the CS (sign tracking) or the US (goal track ing). Increasing the spatial or temporal separation between the CS and a US food has been reported to result in a decline in sign tracking a nd an increase in goal tracking. In the present experiments, sign trac king was the predominant response of male quail (Coturnix japonica) to a CS that was presented up to 91 cm from the door through which a fem ale was presented as the US (Experiment 1). Contrary to reported resul ts with food reinforcement, goal tracking was not facilitated by incre asing the spatial separation between the CS and US (Experiment 2) or b y introducing a trace interval between them (Experiment 3). The prepon derance of sign tracking may reflect an adaptive specialization of sex ual conditioning or may be related to the absence of magazine training and the use of a moving US in the sexual conditioning procedures.