Resistance‐to‐extinction Functions in the Single Organism

Abstract

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...

Effects of Behavioral History on Resistance to Change

“…Several studies have demonstrated a positive relation between resistance to extinction and the number of reinforcers delivered during training (e.g., Hearst, 1961). In other words, the greater the reinforcement history, the greater the amount of resistance to change (i.e., to extinction).…”

Developing a Technology for the Use of Operant Extinction in Clinical Settings: An Examination of Basic and Applied Research

“…The PREE has been demonstrated using a variety of subjects, responses, and reinforcers, as well as with both free-operant and discrete-trial procedures, although almost always with between-subject designs. By contrast, many attempts to replicate the effect using within-subject designs have failed (e.g., Adams, Nemeth, & Pavlik, 1982;; but see Hearst, 1961, for a notable exception).…”

DELAYED ALTERNATION IN THE PIGEON1

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