摘要:

Similar rates of punished and nonpunished responding, maintained with equated rates of reinforcement, were established in pairs of rats. One subject of each pair was exposed to a random‐ratio schedule of food presentation. The interreinforcement intervals for this subject comprised the intervals of a random‐interval schedule of reinforcement for the other (yoked) rat. The random‐ratio schedule maintained rates of responding higher than those maintained by the same rate of reinforcement schedule according to the yoked random‐interval contingency. A random‐ratio schedule of electric foot shock added to the random‐ratio schedule of food presentation suppressed rates of responding such that similar rates of responding were observed in rats of both groups. Pentobarbital (3.0 to 17.0 mg/kg) increased punished responding at doses that had little effect on or decreased nonpunished responding, whereas cocaine (5.6 to 30 mg/kg) increased nonpunished responding at doses that decreased or did not alter punished responding. Qualitatively different effects of pharmacological agents on punished and nonpunished responding can be obtained using procedures that generate similar rates and temporal patterns of punished and nonpunished responding. The effects of pentobarbital and cocaine on responding can be determined by factors other than simply the baseline rate of

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-173

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Two experiments were carried out in which children's sensitivity to changes in reinforcer density (number of reinforcers per session) was measured in a choice paradigm. In Experiment 1, 24 girls (ages 6, 9, and 12 years) performed on concurrent‐chain schedules of reinforcement. The initial links were variable‐interval 10‐s schedules. One terminal link always gave three tokens after 30 s, but the parameters associated with the other were varied. Independent manipulations of reinforcer size (two tokens or four tokens) and prereinforcement delay (25 s or 65 s) led to equal changes in the relative density of tokens that could be earned on the schedules. Subjects at all ages were sensitive to changes in reinforcer density brought about by changes in reinforcer size, whereas only 3 12‐year‐olds showed sensitivity to the changes brought about by manipulation of prereinforcer delay. In Experiment 2, titration procedures were used to test the extent of this insensitivity to delay in 32 6‐ and 12‐year‐old children. In these procedures, a repeated choice of the large reinforcer increased the delay to its delivery, and a repeated choice of the small reinforcer reduced the delay to the delivery of the large reinforcer. Whereas 6‐year‐old boys and girls tended to maintain a strong preference for the large reinforcer, so increasing the delay to its delivery, 12‐year‐olds tended to distribute their responses to both alternatives, thus producing a stable level of delay to the large reinforcer. The results from the two experiments support the idea of two stages in the development of adapti

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-185

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In two sets of experiments, we examined dimensional stimulus control of pigeons' responses to a visual flicker‐rate continuum. In the first experiment, responses to a single key were reinforced periodically during stimuli from one half of the stimulus continuum, and responses during other stimuli were extinguished. In the second experiment, two response keys were simultaneously available, with reinforcement for each response alternative associated with different halves of the stimulus continuum. Conditions of the second experiment involved either free‐operant or discrete‐trial stimulus presentations. Results from these experiments show that positive dimensional contrast appeared in discrimination tasks with one or two response alternatives, but only with free‐operant procedures. In addition, discrimination between stimulus classes established by differential reinforcement was assessed as accurately by continuous rate measures as by discrete response choice in the two‐alternative situation. The general implication of these experiments is that response rate measures, when properly applied, may reveal sources of variation within stimulus classes, such as dimensional contrast, that are not evident with discrete

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-199

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Six pigeons were trained on concurrent variable‐interval schedules in which feedback functions arranged that the overall reinforcer rate either (a) was independent of preference, (b) decreased with increasing absolute preference, or (c) increased with increasing absolute preference. In Experiment 1, the reinforcer rate in an interreinforcement interval was determined by the absolute time‐allocation ratio in the previous interval. When arranged reinforcer ratios were varied, there was no evidence of control over preference by overall reinforcer rate. In Experiment 2, the feedback function arranged that reinforcer rates were an inverse function of absolute preference, and window durations were fixed times. In Phase 1, using schedules that provided a four‐to‐one reinforcer ratio, the window duration was decreased from 20 s to 5 s over four conditions. Then, in Phases 2 and 3, the arranged reinforcer ratios were varied. In Phase 2, the reinforcer rate in the current 5‐s time window was determined by preference in the previous 5‐s window, and in Phase 3, the window durations were 20 s. Again, there was no indication of control by obtained overall reinforcer rate. These data call into question theories that suggest that the process underlying matching is one of maximizing overall reinforcer rates, or that preference in concurrent aperiodic schedules is controlled to any extent by overall reinforcer rate. They also question the notion that concurrent‐schedule preference is controlled by molecul

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-215

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether pigeons learn a sequence of positional responses or a series of conditional discriminations under a repeated‐acquisition‐of‐behavioral‐chains procedure. Three pigeons were trained under a repeated‐acquisition procedure in which three different key colors served as stimuli correlated with the three steps in a chain. The order of presentation of the three stimuli was altered during the latter part of each test session after acquisition had occurred. If the pigeons had acquired a response sequence, the pattern of responding should remain the same as in the initial portion of the test session. However, if the pigeons had acquired a conditional discrimination, the response pattern should change in accordance with the changed order of the key colors. Although the results of this study do not rule out the possibility that the subjects acquired, to some degree, a response sequence, the results suggest that the behavior of pigeons under a repeated‐acquisition‐of‐behavioral‐chains procedure is controlled primarily by conditional discr

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-233

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Six pigeons responded under concurrent‐chains schedules. For 3 birds, pecking was required in both initial links; for 3 others, treadle pressing was required. For all subjects, pecking was required in one terminal link and treadling in the other. The initial links consisted of independent variable‐interval 60‐s schedules. All birds were exposed to five pairs of terminal‐link variable‐interval schedules over 10 conditions: 6 s versus 54 s, 18 s versus 42 s, 30 s versus 30 s, 42 s versus 18 s, and 54 s versus 6 s. Comparisons of responding under nominally identical terminal‐link variable‐interval schedules showed that, without exception, higher choice proportions were obtained for the alternative correlated with terminal‐link pecking. Moreover, terminal‐link delay to reinforcement was shorter for terminal‐link pecking than for terminal‐link treadling chains. This factor, along with response force requirements, was implicated in explaining the present as well as previous findings of preference for pecking over treadling. It was found also that the delay‐reduction hypothesis provided only a moderately accurate description of performance under concurrent chains in which different terminal‐link response topographies are required. These findings suggest that quantitative models neglecting the effects of differing terminal‐link top

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-243

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In rule‐governed behavior, previously established elementary discriminations are combined in complex instructions and thus result in complex behavior. Discriminative combining and recombining of responses produce behavior with characteristics differing from those of behavior that is established through the effects of its direct consequences. For example, responding in instructed discrimination may be occasioned by discriminative stimuli that are temporally and situationally removed from the circumstances under which the discrimination is instructed. The present account illustrates properties of rule‐governed behavior with examples from research in instructional control and imitation learning. Units of instructed behavior, circumstances controlling compliance with instructions, and rule‐governed problem solving are consi

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-259

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-277

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1989.51-287

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1989

数据来源: WILEY