Comparison of two methods of investigating the effect of amount of reward on performance.

Schrier, Allan M.

doi:10.1037/h0038761

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The extent to which such experiences with many different concentrations influence the reactions to each of the solutions must be considerable, judging from the effects of such procedures as observed in other contexts. For example, robust simultaneous and successivenegativecontrasts appear in sucrose drinking (Flaherty & Kaplan, 1979)and saccharindrinking (Flaherty& Rowan, 1986), auditory generalization gradients are sharpened by discrimination training (Jenkins & Harrison, 1960), and differences in reinforcingeffects are more extreme when each animal is exposedto each conditionthan when a single reinforcement condition is used with each animal (Marx & Pieper, 1962;Schrier, 1958). Indeed, negative 20,.. reinforcement contrast effects that persist for at least four sessions have been shown to follow a single shift in sucrose concentrations (Riley & Dunlap, 1979).…”

Section: Experiments 2 Successive Contrast Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulation of taste-induced drinking: The effects of concentration shifts and drinking interruptions

Rabiner

Kling

Spraguer

1988

Animal Learning & Behavior

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The drinking of saccharin solutions by nondeprived rats was found to increase on initial exposure as a function of daily sessions and not as a function of previous state of deprivation or vigor of drinking. Large and persisting positive and negative successive contrast effects followed a single shift in concentration. Forcing the drinking to occur in short bouts by withdrawing the drinking tube elevated total intake above the level established by the positive and negative contrasts. The drinking returned to baseline when uninterrupted drinking was permitted. Maximum drinking occurred with 10-and 20-min interruptions of 2-min drinking periods. Consecutive daily interrupted drinking sessions did not produce further increases in drinking, as might have been predicted by opponent process theory or by a classical conditioning interpretation. It was suggested that the persistence of the positive and negative contrasts was dependent on the limited past experience of the animals with the saccharin taste, and that the enhancement of drinking by interruption may depend on the increased excitement produced by drinking tube withdrawal and the reduction of the excitement by reintroduction of the tube.

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Section: Experiments 2 Successive Contrast Effectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulation of taste-induced drinking: The effects of concentration shifts and drinking interruptions

Rabiner

Kling

Spraguer

1988

Animal Learning & Behavior

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“…It is noteworthy that in Williams' experiment, (a) the two highest individual scorers in extinction were members of one of the low-reinforcement groups; and (b) the range of extinction scores in three of the four experimental groups was virtually the same, even though the group mean scores revealed an orderly and significant relation with the number of reinforcements. In Perin's study, all five reinforcement groups displayed their modal number of individual extinction responses at zero, although the mean data indicated a relation very similar to that of Williams.Some recent papers have considered the problem of drawing inferences about individual behavioral functions from group data (Sidman, 1952;Estes, 1956;Schrier, 1958), and there has been some consideration (Spence, 1956;Skinner, 1959) of the relative merits of individual and group functions in behavioral research. In view of these discussions and of the individual eccentricities pointed out in Williams' and Perin's data, the present set of experiments was undertaken (a) to examine a technique for obtaining resistance-to-extinction functions in individual subjects, and (b) to compare these findings with results previously obtained by separate-group methods.…”

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confidence: 99%

Resistance‐to‐extinction Functions in the Single Organism

Hearst

1961

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Functions relating the number of reinforcements to some aspect of behavior are most often obtained through the use of different groups of subjects, each given different numbers of reinforcements before a test phase that is the same for all groups. The average of the individual measurements in each group then is related to the number of reinforcements given each group. By such a method, the classic data of Williams (1938) and Perin (1942) have shown that both the mean number of extinction responses and the mean time required to attain an "extinction criterion" increase with negative acceleration as the number of reinforcements increases. Williams and Perin plotted the individual data points which enter the mean of each of their reinforcement groups. It is noteworthy that in Williams' experiment, (a) the two highest individual scorers in extinction were members of one of the low-reinforcement groups; and (b) the range of extinction scores in three of the four experimental groups was virtually the same, even though the group mean scores revealed an orderly and significant relation with the number of reinforcements. In Perin's study, all five reinforcement groups displayed their modal number of individual extinction responses at zero, although the mean data indicated a relation very similar to that of Williams.Some recent papers have considered the problem of drawing inferences about individual behavioral functions from group data (Sidman, 1952;Estes, 1956;Schrier, 1958), and there has been some consideration (Spence, 1956;Skinner, 1959) of the relative merits of individual and group functions in behavioral research. In view of these discussions and of the individual eccentricities pointed out in Williams' and Perin's data, the present set of experiments was undertaken (a) to examine a technique for obtaining resistance-to-extinction functions in individual subjects, and (b) to compare these findings with results previously obtained by separate-group methods. The present technique is founded on the pigeon's capacity for very efficient and rapid color discriminations (Ferster & Skinner, 1957) and on an extinction testing procedure analogous to that used by Guttman and Kalish (1956) and Hanson (1959) in the study of individual and small-group generalization gradients in the pigeon. EXPERIMENT I: METHOD SubjectsThe Ss were eight barren, White Carneaux hen pigeons, ranging from 4 to 8 years old.Throughout the experiment, they were maintained at 75% of their free-feeding body weights. ApparatusThe experimental box was a standard commercial model (Foringer), and its essential details have been described elsewhere (Ferster, 1953;Ferster & Skinner, 1957). Except during blackout periods (described below), the box was illuminated by a 110-volt-AC, 6-watt houselight mounted inside the electrical junction box on the rear wall of the chamber.The translucent response key could be illuminated with four pairs of colored Xmas tree lamps (red, green, blue, or orange) mounted behind the key. These lamps were 110 volts, 7.5 watts, whi...

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“…The results are thus similar to previous effects found when magnitude of reinforcement has been varied for different discrirninations presented to the same subject (cf. Schrier, 1958).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The exceptions are studies that have varied magnitude of reinforcement in simultaneous discrimination procedures. Lawson (1957) and Schrier (1958) presented different magnitudes of reinforcement for different discriminations, either by presenting different magnitudes to different groups of subjects or by presenting the different magnitudes to the same subjects for different discriminations presented successively. Only when different magnitudes were presented to the same subject did the rate of learning vary as a function of magnitude.…”

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confidence: 99%

Contrast effects in simultaneous discrimination learning

Williams

1977

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Pigeons were trained on a form discrimination that alternated across trials with an already-learned color discrimination, which was associated with different probabilities of reinforcement for different groups. The rate of acquisition of the form discrimination varied inversely with the rate of reinforcement for the color discrimination, thus demonstrating a "contrast effect" in simultaneous discrimination leaming.Contrast effects have occupied a major segment of the experimental literature in the area of learning over the past 20 years (cf. Mackintosh, 1974). In spite of its apparent ubiquity, however, few studies have examined contrast in procedures using dependent measures other than response rate or latency. The exceptions are studies that have varied magnitude of reinforcement in simultaneous discrimination procedures. Lawson (1957) and Schrier (1958) presented different magnitudes of reinforcement for different discriminations, either by presenting different magnitudes to different groups of subjects or by presenting the different magnitudes to the same subjects for different discriminations presented successively. Only when different magnitudes were presented to the same subject did the rate of learning vary as a function of magnitude. The apparent locus of the effect was that rate of learning with the smaller magnitudes was decreased when larger magnitudes were available for comparison. More recently, Eisenberger, Frank, and Park (1975) shifted rats in a straight alley from a small to a large magnitude of reinforcement, or from a large to a small magnitude, and then determined their preference for the alley associated with the shifts relative to a new alley associated with the same magnitude as used after the shift in reinforcement. In all cases, preference was predicted by a contrast effect. That is, subjects shifted from a high to low magnitude preferred the new alley, while subjects shifted from low to high preferred the alley associated with the shift.There have been no studies of contrast in discrimination procedures where rate of reinforcement has been varied. That rate of reinforcement should produce effects similar to magnitude of

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Comparison of two methods of investigating the effect of amount of reward on performance.

Cited by 34 publications

References 20 publications

Modulation of taste-induced drinking: The effects of concentration shifts and drinking interruptions

Modulation of taste-induced drinking: The effects of concentration shifts and drinking interruptions

Resistance‐to‐extinction Functions in the Single Organism

Contrast effects in simultaneous discrimination learning

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