Habituation of the bobwhite quail's freezing response was studied using widely spaced (daily) trials. The releasing stimulus was a brief presentation of a live hawk which was obliged, by a rotating perch, to flap his wings. Habituation occurred, however, the initial increment in response commonly found with massed trials did not occur with daily trials. Thus, the facilitation of responding on the second stimulus presentation was attributed to temporary (e.g., emotional) factors elicited by the initial predator presentation. An attempt to dishabituate the freezing response was not successful.
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