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Science 1 February 1980:
Vol. 207. no. 4430, pp. 543 - 545
DOI: 10.1126/science.207.4430.543
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Articles

Symbolic Communication Between Two Pigeons, (Columba livia domestica)

ROBERT EPSTEIN 1, ROBERT P. LANZA 1, and B. F. SKINNER 1

1 Department of Psychology and Social Relations, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Through the use of learned symbols, a pigeon accurately communicated information about hidden colors to another pigeon. Each verbal exchange was initiated with a spontaneous request for information. The two pigeons engaged in a sustained and natural conversation without human intervention.

Submitted on August 28, 1979
Revised on November 5, 1979


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Reports and Communications: Siminteract II: An Enhanced Computer Program for Simulating Adaptive Systems / Donal E. Muir.
(1995)
Social Science Computer Review 13, 524-530
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)