Effects of Differences in Interreinforcer Intervals Between Past and Current Schedules on Fixed‐interval Responding

Abstract

Undergraduates were exposed to a mixed fixed-ratio differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate schedule. Values of the schedule components were adjusted so that interreinforcer intervals in one component were longer than those in another component. Following this, a mixed fixed-interval 5-s fixed-interval 20-s schedule (Experiment 1) or six fixed-interval schedules in which the values ranged from 5 to 40 s (Experiment 2) were in effect. In both experiments, response rates under the fixed-interval schedules were higher when the interreinforcer intervals approximated those produced under the fixed-ratio schedule, whereas the rates were lower when the interreinforcer intervals approximated those produced under the different-reinforcement-of-low-rate schedule. The present results demonstrate that the effects of behavioral history were under control of the interreinforcer intervals as discriminative stimuli.

An Exploration of Remote History Effects in Humans: II. The Effects Under Fixed-Interval, Variable-Interval, and Fixed-Ratio Schedules

“…The present success in discovering remote history effects demonstrates that the probe procedure was sound for testing these effects and replicates previous successes of probe practices on history effects (e.g., Barrett, 1977;Doughty et al, 2005;Egli & Thompson, 1989;Johnson et al, 1991;Okouchi, 2003Okouchi, , 2007. As described, however, the probe technique cannot identify longevity of the effects.…”

“…Probe sessions under FR, VI, and FR schedules were interspersed among baseline sessions of the 1 s < IRT ≤ 2 s pacing schedule. Though not common, some studies of history effects have used drugs (Barrett, 1977;Cohen, Pedersen, Kinney, & Myers, 1994;Egli & Thompson, 1989;Nader & Thompson, 1987Poling, Krafft, & Chapman, 1980;Urbain et al, 1978), drinking water (Johnson, Bickel, Higgins, & Morris, 1991), prefeeding (Cohen et al, 1994;Doughty, Cirino, Mayfield, Da Silva, Okouchi, & Lattal, 2005), and schedules (Okouchi, 2003(Okouchi, , 2007 as probes, and have found some effects that were not observed during the baseline (Barrett, 1977;Egli & Thompson, 1989;Johnson et al, 1991;Okouchi, 2007). The probe technique, of course, cannot identify longevity of the effects but permits a replication of multiple conditions economically (Sidman, 1960, pp.…”

An Exploration of Remote History Effects in Humans

“…Studies of the immediate history effects have suggested that when the environmental stimuli experienced during the history building and testing conditions are similar, history has stronger effects (Freeman & Lattal, 1992;Nader & Thompson, 1987;Okouchi, 2003aOkouchi, , 2003b. Thus, it is plausible to conclude that the strong effects of the second history maintained by the functional similarities between the last two conditions (the second history Cole (2001) and LeFrancois and Metzger (1993), iRis, often accompanying the schedule change, merit careful consideration as an environmental variable (Okouchi, 2003b). For 2 rats in Cole's experiment exposed to DRL, FR, and Fi in that order, mean iRis of the Fi schedule were within 27% of those of the immediately previous FR schedule.…”

“…immediate history effects are said to depend on at least the following three variables: the history building condition, the history testing condition, and interaction between them (Okouchi, 2003b). According to this discussion, the remote history effects can depend on seven variables because any examination of the effects requires three conditions consisting of two history building conditions and one history testing condition.…”

Polêmicas sobre história comportamental: identificação de seus efeitos e sua duração

“…Em outros termos, o objeto de estudo do analista de comportamento que estuda experimentalmente os efeitos da história é o comportamento que ocorre no intervalo entre um estado estável e, supostamente, outro estado estável. Segundo este ponto de vista (e.g., Baron & Leinenweber, 1995;Cole, 2001;Freeman & Lattal, 1992;Okouchi, 2003aOkouchi, , 2003b, os efeitos da história comportamental são sempre transitórios (i.e., eles estão no interstício de dois estados estáveis). Entretanto, outros autores (e.g., Wanchisen & Tatham, 1991) sugeriram que, em alguns casos, os efeitos da história poderiam ser considerados permanentes.…”