Concurrent Schedule Assessment of Food Preference in Cows

Matthews, Lindsay R.; Temple, William Johnson

doi:10.1901/jeab.1979.32-245

Cited by 115 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…as the reinforcer (Logue & de Villiers, 1978) and the two studies that used COSs (Pliskoff, Cicerone, & Nelson, 1978;Tustin & Davison, 1979, for the FI 180-sec and FI 360-sec COSs) produced poor fits. The two studies that used two different operanda (Davison & Ferguson, 1978;McSweeney, 1978) and the two studies that used different reinforcers in the two components (Hollard & Davison, 1971;Matthews & Temple, 1979) fell into the intermediate or poor category. All studies that used two different simple schedules also fell into the intermediate or poor category (Herrnstein & Heyman, 1979;LaBounty & Reynolds, 1973;Nevin, 1971;Rider, 1979Rider, , 1981Trevett et al, 1972), except Lobb and Davison (1975).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, k generally fell between 0 and 150 responses/min, and was sometimes higher for easier responses, such as buttonpressing, as it should be if it is the subject's asymptotic rate of responding. The size of k also varied with the species of the subject and sometimes with the reinforcer provided by the components (Matthews & Temple, 1979). The size of k should vary with species if it is measured in responses per time unit, because different response operanda are typically used for different species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Herrnstein’s equation for the rates of responding during concurrent schedules

McSweeney

Melville

Whipple

1983

Animal Learning & Behavior

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A modification of the nonlinear curve-fitting procedure proposed by Wetherington and Lucas (1980) was used to assess how well Herrnstein's (1970) equation for the rates of responding during concurrent schedules described performance. The equation fitted some results very well, accounting for 80% or more of the variance in the data in studies that used moderateduration changeover delays and provided the same positive reinforcers, operanda, and simple schedules in the two components. The equation fitted the data poorly in other studies. The k parameter changed with several variables; it was not as constant as Herrnstein (1974)

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Herrnstein’s equation for the rates of responding during concurrent schedules

McSweeney

Melville

Whipple

1983

Animal Learning & Behavior

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“…Choice feeding tests have long been the standard method for assessing herbivores' motivation to eat a particular food (Meier et al, 2012), and a common assumption is that animal's preference for a given food is proportional to its relative rewarding properties ('matching law;' e.g., Matthews and Temple, 1979). If so, improvements in the incentive value of a low-quality food through conditioning should lead to a proportional increase in its preference.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expression of conditioned preference for low-quality food in sheep is modulated by foraging costs

Catanese

Distel

Villalba

2015

Animal

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Past positive experiences can increase herbivores' motivation to eat low-quality foods. However, this is not always translated into a higher preference for low-quality foods in choice tests among foods of higher nutritional quality. Foraging behavior is also affected by properties of the feeding context because the quality and abundance of foods in nature change in time and space. We hypothesized that in a choice situation, the expression of a past positive experience with a low-quality food is modulated by the costs associated with selecting a high-quality food option. A total of 24 sheep were randomly assigned into two groups (n = 12). During conditioning phase, one group (CS+ ; i.e., conditioned group) was fed with oat hay (a low-quality food) for 20 min and immediately after a ration of soybean meal (a nutritious food), whereas the other group was also fed with oat hay but the offer of soybean meal was delayed 5 h (CS− ; i.e., control group). After conditioning, we assessed sheep motivation to eat the oat hay in an experimental arena in which accessibility to alfalfa hay (a high-quality food) was increasingly restricted. When alfalfa hay was readily accessible, CS+ and CS− sheep almost exclusively selected this food, showing a small and similar preference for oat hay. However, when accessibility to alfalfa hay decreased, intake and selection of oat hay was greater in the CS+ sheep than in the CS− sheep. The latter was a consequence of differential changes in behavior between groups; for example, sheep in CS+ spent more time foraging oat hay and were more likely to switch to oat hay if they had previously been eating alfalfa hay than sheep in CS− . Our results show that behavioral expression of the conditioned preference for a low-quality food depends on parameters of the feeding context (e.g., availability). We suggest that this can be the link between learning models and optimal foraging models of diet selection.Keywords: low-quality foods, learning, foraging behavior, diet selection, sheep ImplicationsPositive nutritional experiences with low-quality foods can change animals' motivation to eat them; although, this is not always translated into a higher preference for these foods when foraging. Foraging decisions are also affected by the temporal and spatial distribution of foods. We show that positive experiences with low-quality foods improve preferences only if access to high-quality foods is restricted. Animals prefer to 'eat the best and leave the rest,' but if the best is restricted, they 'eat the best of the rest;' and here is where past experiences with low-quality foods impact preferences. IntroductionThe nutritional context in which a low-quality food is ingested can affect herbivores' subsequent behavior toward that food. For instance, intake of and preference for flavored lowquality hay by lambs is greater when its consumption is immediately followed by the ingestion of a high-quality food than when ingestion of the high-quality food is delayed (Freidin et al., 2011 and. Likewise, sheep showed h...

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“…With a concurrent operants paradigm, two schedules of reinforcement (or two qualitatively different reinforcers) are in direct competition, and response rates tend to match the relative rate or magnitude of reinforcement associated with each schedule (Herrnstein, 1970). This matching phenomenon appears to be quite general and has been demonstrated to occur across a wide range of species, reinforcers, and responses (e.g., Conger & Killeen, 1974;Matthews & Temple, 1979;Neef, Mace, & Shade, 1993 Mazur, 1994). This acquisition phase should be shorter, and hence matching should occur faster, for a simple free-operant response than for a more complex response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a Choice Assessment to Predict Reinforcer Effectiveness

Piazza

Fisher

Hagopian

et al. 1996

J of App Behav Analysis

170

144

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A choice assessment has been found to be a more accurate method of identifying preferences than is single-item presentation. However, it is not clear whether the effectiveness of reinforcement varies positively with the degree of preference (i.e., whether the relative preference based on the results of a choice assessment predicts relative reinforcer effectiveness). In the current study, we attempted to address this question by categorizing stimuli as high, middle, and low preference based on the results of a choice assessment, and then comparing the reinforcing effectiveness of these stimuli using a concurrent operants paradigm. High-preference stimuli consistently functioned as reinforcers for all 4 clients. Middle-preference stimuli functioned as reinforcers for 2 clients, but only when compared with low-preference stimuli. Low-preference stimuli did not function as reinforcers when compared to high-and middle-preference stimuli. These results suggest that a choice assessment can be used to predict the relative reinforcing value of various stimuli, which, in turn, may help to improve programs for clients with severe to profound disabilities.

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Concurrent Schedule Assessment of Food Preference in Cows

Cited by 115 publications

References 12 publications

Herrnstein’s equation for the rates of responding during concurrent schedules

Herrnstein’s equation for the rates of responding during concurrent schedules

Expression of conditioned preference for low-quality food in sheep is modulated by foraging costs

Using a Choice Assessment to Predict Reinforcer Effectiveness

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