A localized visual stimulus presented immediately prior to access to a female conspecific stimulated approach behavior in male Japanese quail after several conditioning trials. Development of this conditioned approach behavior was observed with two different types of signal lights, 10-s and 30-s signal durations, large and small experimental chambers, and with male birds housed continually in the conditioning chambers or only placed in the chamber for brief daily sessions. Conditioning also resulted in shorter latencies to initiate copulation in males given access to a female following the signal light, in comparison with males that received access to a female unannounced by the light. Although some aspects of the conditioning experience were retained over a 6-week interval, some loss of the behavior was also observed. The conditioned behavior also decreased with repeated extinction trials, during which the signal light was presented in the absence of access to a female conspecific. The results are discussed in relation to other aspects of the social behavior of Japanese quail and other studies of sexual conditioning.

A choice reaction time experiment was conducted in which subjects were to respond with one response to either of two stimuli, S1 and S2, and with another response to a third stimulus, S3. The stimuli in the low-compatibility condition were three colors and the responses were letter names. In a high-compatibility condition, S1 and 82 were upper-and lowercases of the same letter and S3 was another letter. The responses were the letter names. The relative frequency of S1 and S2 was manipulated. The results showed a Compatibility by Relative Frequency interaction, with relative frequency affecting reaction time only under low compatibility. It was argued that the stimulus relative frequency affects the response selection stage of information processing.Using a 1 to I stimulus-response (S·R) mapping in a choice reaction time (CRT) task typically shows reaction time to increase with a decrease in the relative frequency of the stimulus. This fact has been shown to hold, at least when S·R compatibility is not particularly high. The increase in reaction time (RT) as a function of decrease in relative frequency is obtained if relative frequency is varied by manipulating the number of equally likely alternatives (Hick , 1952). It is also found when the probability of occurrence of particular stimuli is manipulated within a set of n possible alternatives (Hyman, 1953).There are at least two possible explanations of this phenomenon . The subject might be responding faster with a more probable response , or he might encode faster the more frequent stimulus. If a I to I S·R mapping is used , these two possible interpretations cannot be separated.In an ingenious study, laBerge and Tweedy (1964) attempted to isolate stimulus probability from response probability . They used three stimuli (SI, S2, and S3) and two responses (Ra and Rb), such that Sl and S2 were associated with Ra and S3 was associated with Rb. With this technique , variation in the relative frequency of the SI and S2 should result in RT data that is analyzable with respect to the response vs. stimulus frequency inte rpretations of the relative frequency effect. Specifically , as laBerge and Tweedy argue, if the relative frequency does not affect the stimulus processing stage, then the mean RTs for Sl and S2 should not differ. laBerge and Tweedy used three colors as stimuli and two finger pressing responses and found that the more frequent of SI and S2 was responded to faster. They concluded, therefore , that the speed of stimulus processing is affected by stimulus frequency .There seems, however, to be a third possible explanations of the relative frequency effect. Response bias (the term used by laBerge and Tweedy) could refer to two Dean Purcell sponsors thiS paper and takes full editorial responsibility for its contents. distinct stages in the information processing system . One is the response selection stage, the other is the response execution stage. The laBerge and Tweedy design allows variation in stimulus probability independently of response execution pr...