Would there be an increase in response intensity, in a reinforced instrumental response, during the period in which a different instrumental response was being extinguished? 5 rats were conditioned to pull a chain for food and press a lever for water. The experimental cage was a Skinner box in which both chain and lever were continuously available. The gram weights of the lever presses were continuously recorded and used as measures of response intensity. The variations in lever-press intensity were studied as a function of reinforcement and extinction of the chain-pull response. During sessions in which the chain pull was alternately reinforced and extinguished, the lever press was continuously reinforced. Chain-pull extinction was consistently associated with increased intensity of the lever-press response. Some additional data on lever-press intensity were obtained with lever-press extinction. The results with lever-press extinction were equivocal.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.