Word: pigeoneers
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...these years?and subsequently?Skinner disciplined not just himself but also rats. The rats, and later pigeons, became the center of laboratory experiments in which he controlled behavior by setting up "contingencies of reinforcement"?circumstances under which a particular bit of desired behavior is "reinforced" or rewarded to make sure it will be repeated. The behavior Skinner demanded of his pigeons was bizarre?for pigeons. He made them walk figure eights, for example, by reinforcing them with food at crucial moments. The process as explained by Skinner: "I watch a hungry pigeon carefully. When he makes a slight clockwise...
...similar process, Skinner has taught pigeons to dance with each other, and even to play Ping Pong. During World War II, he conceived the idea of using pigeons in guided-missile control; three birds were conditioned to peck continuously for four or five minutes at the image of a target on a screen. Then they were placed in harness in the nose of a missile, facing a screen on which the target would appear when the missile was in flight. By pecking at the image moving on the screen, the pigeons would send corrective signals that moved the missile...
...these conditioning feats were accomplished with the now-famous Skinner box. It is a soundproof enclosure with a food dispenser that a rat can operate by pressing a lever, and a pigeon by pecking a key. The dispenser does not work unless the animal has first performed according to a specially designed "schedule of reinforcement...
SENATOR Henry ("Scoop") Jackson of Washington State is a perplexing study in political paradox. He gaily dismisses his frequent hawk label: "I'm not a hawk or a dove. I just don't want my country to be a pigeon." Still, Jackson remains one of the most rigid supporters of President Nixon's Viet Nam policies. He still firmly believes in the domino theory of Southeast Asian politics and, as far as the rest of the world goes, he is convinced of the ultimate malevolence of the Soviet Union's global intentions. President Nixon thinks...
Those entrepreneurs who have resorted to pigeon post have had mixed results. The mating season has just begun, and a pigeon named Concorde, assigned to fly 170 miles with microfilmed letters tied to one leg. was found dallying in a loft only a mile from its starting point. But another bird carrying a microfilmed letter between two brothers in London and Portsmouth arrived in only 2? hours...