Cooperative responding in rats: II. Performance on fixed‐ratio schedules of mutual reinforcement

Abstract

Coordinated responses of 5 dyads of rats were investigated under fixed-ratio (FR) schedules of mutual water reinforcement. Coordinated responding was defined as 2 consecutive lever-presses, 1 from each of 2 rats, occurring <.5 s apart. In the FR schedules, each coordinated episode was defined as 1 response in the FR sequence. The size of FR schedules was parametrically manipulated assuming the values of FR 1, 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 50, and 9, in this order. Each FR remained in effect until responding reached stability. Under all conditions, pairs of rats received access to water simultaneously (mutual reinforcement). Rates and proportions of coordinated responding showed a bitonic inverted U-shaped function of ratio size. Postreinforcement pauses increased systematically as the interreinforcement interval increased. Local rates and proportions increased as a function of response location within ratios. Results of a control condition with relaxed temporal constraints for mutual reinforcement showed decreases in rates and proportion of coordinated responses, suggesting that the coordinated responses were controlled by the mutual reinforcement contingencies. The present experiment showed that coordinated responding is quantitatively affected by 3 properties of FR schedules: response requirement, reinforcement rates, and proximity to reinforcement.

Stimulus control of a social operant

“…In several experiments, there have been other sources of discriminative stimulus control over coordinated responding in addition to or instead of the visual stimulus of the coactors' behavior. For example, de Carvalho and colleagues (de Carvalho et al, 2018(de Carvalho et al, , 2019(de Carvalho et al, , 2020 presented a 500-ms flash of an LED following each coordinated response. This flash occurred in conjunction with continuous visual access to the responding by the coactor.…”

“…As a result, the reinforcer delivered to the first rat, although response dependent, occurred after an unsignaled delay. In a third procedure (de Carvalho et al, 2020), responses were reinforced if they occurred "not at the same time" but within 5 s of one another (de Carvalho et al, 2020). Under all three procedures, there were fewer coordinated responses than occurred when the coordination contingency was in place, which was interpreted as suggesting that coordinated responding does indeed result from the imposed contingency.…”

O Estudo Experimental das Relações entre Cultura e Comportamento Verbal: uma Revisão de Escopo

“…Ou seja, o uso de modelos animais também pode controlar os efeitos do CV e descrever, com maior amplitude, sua função na seleção cultural. Por exemplo, Velasco et al (2017) encontraram que comportamento coordenado de pombos foi selecionado por metacontingências apresentadas para os pares como um todo; Carvalho (2016) obteve indícios de que o PA gerado por pares de peixes podem ser modelados e mantidos por suas consequências; Todorov et al (2020) evidenciaram que as CCEs dentro de metacontingências estabeleceram um padrão cooperativo em pares de ratos; Carvalho et al (2018Carvalho et al ( , 2020 mostraram que consequências externas em diferentes esquemas de reforçamento selecionaram um padrão de comportamento coordenado também em ratos; e Tan e Hackenberg (2016) demonstraram que o comportamento coordenado de dois ratos foi mantido por reforçadores mútuos, independente do tipo ou presença de barreira física e flexível na adaptação da presença de um parceiro não familiar.…”

Cultural Milieu and Group-Rules in an Elaborated Account of Metacontingencies: Conceptual Analysis and an Illustration in a COVID-19 Psychological Support Project

“…Sampaio & Andery, 2010;Tourinho & Vichi, 2012). Verbal interactions are not necessary for the selection of culturants by CCs (L. C. de Carvalho et al, 2018de Carvalho et al, , 2019de Carvalho et al, , 2020Sampaio et al, 2013;Velasco et al, 2017). However, in metacontingencies involving many individuals and non-coincident AP and CC, it becomes crucial for the group to generate rules fostering the necessary adjustments in the IBCs.…”