Complex form of instrumental behavior of dogs

Abstract

A complex form of higher nervous activity, conditional reflex transswitching or switching, was elaborated in four dogs under conditions of unrestrained movements, freedom of reinforcement choice (food or water), place of reinforcement determined by situation factors as well as independent switching on of conditional stimuli. It was shown that motivated goal-directed behavior of the animals was determined by activation of forward and backward connections. The chains of instrumental conditioned reflexes forming in the final analysis the complex behavior are developed according to the "trial-and-error" principle. In the instrumental conditioned reflexes there are two constantly coexisting types of mutually complementing conditioned connections of the signal with reinforcement--direct and indirect. In experiments with unrestrained conditions of animals and independent regulation of the experiment, one of the frequently encountered physiological mechanisms of generalization appears to be efferent and afferent generalization.