Effects of Response-Signal Temporal Separation on Behavior Maintained Under Temporally Defined Schedules of Delayed Signaled Reinforcement

Abstract

The present study assessed the effects of systematically separating the cue from the response in temporally defined schedules of delayed signaled reinforcement. Identical schedules were used to study the effects of the independent variable on response acquisition and response maintenance. In the first experiment, 8 groups of 3 naïve rats were exposed to 1 of 8 temporally defined schedules that differed in both the duration of a response opportunity and responsesignal temporal separation. In the second experiment, 3 rats were exposed to the previously described schedules using a within-subjects design. Results in both experiments showed response rate as a decreasing function of responsesignal temporal separation. The findings could be the result of the combination of delaying conditioned reinforcement and blocking the response selected for reinforcement.

Effects of signaled and unsignaled delays of reinforcement on response maintenance in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

“…The latter were, in several cases, relatively small. Previous experiments with rats and pigeons indicated that, when reinforcement rate is held constant (Gleeson & Lattal, 1987; Pulido & Martinez, 2010; Sizemore & Lattal, 1978) between immediate and delay of reinforcement conditions, response rates still decrease substantially when delays are imposed. Although these previous experiments suggest minimal effects of reinforcement rate changes relative to those of the delay itself, there remains the possibility that the reduction in reinforcement rate acts in combination with the delay to contribute to the response rate reductions observed in this experiment.…”