<< ️Pigeons seem to defy a century-old psychology law about how rewards and consequences help us learn. >>
<< ️New research suggests the birds themselves avoid stability in their decision-making, instead choosing to live “at the edge of chaos.” As model species for learning and behavior, these birds are helping researchers test a century-old law about how humans and other creatures learn. >>
<< ️When learning something new, people and animals alike tend to repeat behaviors that are rewarded. First proposed by Edward Thorndike in 1898, this principle is so well established in psychology that it's become known as the law of effect. But the law implies that beyond making a behavior more frequent, rewards also make it more consistent: reducing variability in the specific way behaviors are performed over time. >>
<< ️Edward A. Wasserman and his colleagues decided to put it to the test in pigeons—a species that has been integral to the study of learning at the university’s Comparative Cognition Laboratory for more than 50 years. And the study’s results, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, suggest these birds experience variability as the spice of life. >>
<< ️You could argue the birds are just utterly resistant to locking into anything stable. >> Edward A. Wasserman.
<< ️this paper leaves open many questions about the [neurological] mechanisms for future scientists to explore. >> Aaron Blaisdell.
K. R. Callaway, Sarah Lewin Frasier. Chaotic pigeons are helping redefine what we know about learning. SciAm. Jun 30, 2026.
Wasserman E.A., Orr O.R.P., Li S. Variability, stability, and the law of effect. J. of Exp. Psychol: Animal Learning and Cognition, 52(3), 129–138. Jul 2026.
Also: brain, neuro, behav, curiosity, game, Nomads, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html
Keywords: brain, behavior, curiosity, games, Nomads.
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