No abstract

Evidence of the partial reinforcement acquisition effect (PRAE), faster running after partial reinforcement than after continuous reinforcement in the start and run segments coupled with slower running in the goal segment of a straight-alley runway, was obtained in preweanling (18-20 days of age) and young adult (52-54 days of age) rats. While present at both ages, the PRAE appears to increase with age. The results are discussed in relation to previous studies of this and other paradoxical reinforcement effects.

The effects of a schedule of discontinuously negatively correlated reinforcement (DNC), in which only approach responses that take 5 sec or longer are reinforced, were studied in weanling rats that began training at 18 days of age and adolescents that began training at 60 days. Yoked partially reinforced subjects (PRF) received rewards on the same trials as corresponding DNC subjects of the same age, whereas continuously reinforced subjects (CRF) were rewarded on all trials. At the end of DNC training (210 trials), the older but not the younger DNC subjects were running slower than their yoked-PRF controls. The results are consistent with development of inhibition and suppression related to the developing brain, particularly the hippocampus.