Three pigeons performed on two-component multiple variable-interval variable-interval schedules of reinforcement. There were two independent variables: component duration and the relative frequency of reinforcement in a component. The component duration, which was always the same in both components, was varied over experimental conditions from 2 to 180 sec. Over these conditions, the relative frequency of reinforcement in a component was either 0.2 or 0.8 (+0.03). As the component duration was shortened, the relative frequency of responding in a component approached a value equal to the relative frequency of reinforcement in that component. When the relative frequency of reinforcement was varied over conditions in which the component duration was fixed at 5 sec, the relative frequency of responding in a component closely approximated the relative frequency of reinforcement in that component. Fig. 3a in Reynolds, 1963, and Fig. 2
The role of temporal factors in the development of conditioned inhibition was investigated in a backward conditioning design. Separate groups of rats received tone CSs either 3 or 30 sec following shock presentatlOns. The ess predicted the same shock-free interval for both groups. A third group was presented with a random relationship between CS and shock. The CSs were tested by superimposition on a Sidman avoidance baseline and only the group with a 3-sec UCS·CS interval revealed an inhibitory effect of the CS. These results are in accord with predictions made by the Solomon-Corbit model of acquired motivation and by Denny's "relaxation" theory of escape and avoidance.
Five pigeons were exposed to several concurrent variable-interval food reinforcement schedules. For three subjects, one component of the schedule required a key-pecking response, the other a treadle-pressing response. For the other two subjects, both schedule components required treadle-pressing responses. The relative probability of reinforcement associated with the manipulanda was varied from 0 to 1.0 in 13 experimental conditions for the Key-Treadle subjects and nine conditions for the Treadle-Treadle subjects. The results indicated that the logarithms of relative time spent responding, and the logarithms of relative number of responses emitted on a manipulandum, approximated direct linear functions of logarithms of the relative frequencies of reinforcement associated with that manipulandum. No systematic bias in favor of time spenit key pecking over time spent treadle pressing was apparent for the Key-Treadle subjects. All subjects exhibited undermatching, in that the ratios of time and response allocation at the alternatives systematically differed from the ratios of reinforcers obtained from the alternatives in the direction of indifference. Key pecking appeared to have no special link to food beyond treadle pressing or what would be expected on the basis of the reinforcement dependencies alone.Key words: concurrent schedules, matching contrast, treadle press, key peck, pigeonsSince Brown and Jenkins (1968)
In a three-group experiment, one group of rats (response-contingent) learned to contact a food cup for Noyes food pellets delivered according to a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Subjects in another group received a response-independent pellet each time its yoked counterpart earned one. A third (control) group received the same amount of food as the other two groups each day, but the pellets were delivered in mass. Following this training, the rats were placed in a novel experimental chamber in which all responses on a bar were reinforced with the presentation of food pellets. The results showed the response-independent animals to be slower in acquiring the barpress response than the naive control subjects, and the response-contingent subjects to be the fastest. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that administering response-independent electric shocks to dogs and rats may interfere with their subsequent learning to escape 'rom shock when cornpared with the learning of subjects receiving either prior exposure to escapable shocks or no shocks (e.g.
Four groups of six pigeons each were given nondifferential training on multiple variable-interval variable-interval reinforcement schedules and then were switched to differential training involving a multiple schedule in which reinforcement density was reduced in one of the two components. The multiple schedules used in the four groups had mean interreinforcement intervals of 1 min and 1 min in the two components changed to 1 min, 5 min; 2.5 min, 2.5 min changed to 2.5 min, 5 min; 12 sec, 12 sec changed to 12 sec, 24 sec; and 12 sec, 12 sec changed to 12 sec, 60 sec. In subsequently administered wavelength generalization tests, some peak shifts were observed in each condition and occurred occasionally in the absence of behavioral contrast or rate reduction in the less-reinforced component. The best predictor of peak shift was a high proportion of total responses emitted during the more-reinforced component at the end of differential training.
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