Coupling between pecking and heart beat in pigeons

Abstract

The electrocardiogram of pigeons was recorded while they pecked an impact transducer under operant control according to a variable ratio schedule. An analysis of the records in terms of crossaverages between heart beats and pecks, the quasi‐equivalents of crosscorrelation functions, revealed that pecks and heart beats tend to coincide temporally at above chance levels according to patterns that vary from individual to individual pigeon. The mechanisms and the functions of the coupling are discussed.

Abstracting Keywords:

• Cardiac rhythm
• cycle analysis
• electrocardiogram
• pecking
• pigeon

Notes

Experimentelle Tierpsychologie, Psychologisches Institut, Ruhr‐Universität Bochum, D 4630 Bochum, FRG