Pigeon study helps CSUEB students fly to first place in CSU-wide research contest
Mikel Maria Delgado and Lorie Curtis capture first place honors at the 24th Annual CSU Research Competition.
- May 20, 2010
Psychology students Mikel Maria Delgado and Lorie Curtis won first place at the 24th Annual CSU Research Competition for a study into how pigeons kept in small cages don’t provide reliable laboratory test results.
Curtis’ and Delgado’s research project, “Housing, activity, and the behavioral welfare of the laboratory pigeon,” revealed that pigeons used for laboratory testing do not give adequate scientific results if kept in small, enclosed environments. Each student spent over a year filming the behavior of Columba Livia pigeons, which were kept in the type of small metal cages used for scientific testing. The students analyzed the pigeons’ habits in grooming, pecking, walking and trying to stretch their wings.
“In the lab community, housing and care is something very important for research,” said Delgado, a senior. “There is a lack of love for pigeons, and that’s why they are used for testing, They are easy to take care of and often mistreated, because they are not protected by the Animal Welfare Act. The federal law doesn’t include birds or rodents as lab animals, so researchers don’t have a standard (outlining) how to house them."
When housed in large enclosures with other pigeons, the animals demonstrated expected, healthy behaviors. By contrast, when the birds were kept in cramped spaces, their response times to testing slowed and socialization habits became atypical.
The team’s research confirmed that pigeons should not be tested in cramped structures, particularly if the results of tests performed on the birds are expected to duplicate similar responses in humans. Based on their findings, Curtis and Delgado recommend keeping pigeons in a larger cage and within close proximity to other pigeons. “We helped increase the validity of scientific results,” Curtis said.
Pigeons are used to study learning and memory. If researchers are going to use them to better understand human behavior then they should be treated better for the best results, Delgado said.
The California State University Research Competition is held each spring to recognize superior student accomplishments throughout the CSU system. The research contest promotes creative activity and outstanding achievements in undergraduate and graduate scholarly research.
Students present their studies before juries of experts from public agencies, major corporations and colleges and universities throughout the state. Judging is based on the presenter’s ability to handle field questions from the jury and the general audience. Presenters are judged on how well they organized the material they presented, the ability to explain their creative activity or research, the research value, appropriateness of how they approached their research and clarity of purpose.
The competition was held April 30 and May 1 at California State University, San Jose. The competitors were currently registered undergraduate and graduate students as well as alumni who received their degrees in spring, summer or fall 2009.
Of the 23 CSU campuses, 21 participated. Students delivered 190 presentations which were divided into 19 sessions by subject area. Undergraduate and graduates were judged separately with a first place and second place winner chosen for each of the 19 sessions.
“We would recommend this competition to people who want to go to graduate school and if you like working as a team,” said Delgado. “We now know pigeons are very misunderstood. They are smart, relaxed and very social. We hope they are treated better in testing to benefit humans.”