The youths are part of a behavioral psychology class being taught through the annual Science Summer Institute. Participants in the class learn basic behavioral psychology techniques that the students then use to shape pigeons' behaviors during the second week of the class. Dawn Kalsow, associate lecturer of psychology, also teaches the class.
Students first learn psychology basics from an interactive computer program.
They then apply it to another program, where they train a computerized rat. But for the students, Morse said, the third section, when they get to train the pigeons, is the most interesting. Although the class has been taught for years, the pigeon lab only has been included during the last four years. Food is used to shape the pigeons' behavior by rewarding the pigeons when they perform the desired behavior. Students, working in groups of three, choose what behavior they want the pigeon to learn, and devise a means for getting the pigeon to behave in the specified manner, Morse said.