摘要:

Undergraduates participated in two experiments to develop methods for the experimental analysis of self‐reports about behavior. The target behavior was the choice response in a delayed‐matching‐to‐sample task in which monetary reinforcement was contingent upon both speed and accuracy of the choice. In Experiment 1, the temporal portion of the contingency was manipulated within each session, and the presence and absence of feedback about reinforcement was manipulated across sessions. As the time limits became stricter, target response speeds increased, but accuracy and reinforcement rates decreased. When feedback was withheld, further reductions in speed and reinforcement occurred, but only at the strictest time limit. Thus, the procedures were successful in producing systematic variation in the speed, accuracy, and reinforcement of the target behavior. Experiment 2 was designed to assess the influence of these characteristics on self‐reports. In self‐report conditions, each target response was followed by a computer‐generated query: “Did you earn points?” The subject reported by pressing “Yes” or “No” buttons, with the sole consequence of advancing the session. In some cases, feedback about reinforcement of the target response followed the reports; in other cases it was withheld. Self‐reports were less accurate when the target responses occurred under greater time pressure. When feedback was withheld, the speed of the target response influenced reports, in that the probability of a “Yes” report increased directly with the speed of accurate target responses. In addition, imposing the self‐report procedure disrupted target performance by reducing response speeds at the strictest time limit. These results allow investigation of issues in both behavioral and cognitive psychology. More important, the overall order in the data suggests promise for the experimental analysis

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.53-321

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

A four‐member equivalence class (A → B → C → D) can be formed by training AB, BC, and CD. The nodal stimuli, B and C, mediate all of the derivative (transitive and equivalence) relations in the class. The derivative relations AC, CA, BD, and DB are separated by one node, whereas AD and DA are separated by two nodes. How do the number of nodes that separate the stimuli in a derivative relation influence the induction of stimulus control exerted by that relation? Seven college students learned two four‐member classes made up of nonsense syllables. After training, all derivative relations were presented repeatedly without informative feedback. Stimulus control exerted by each derivative relation was assessed concurrently. For the 7 subjects, control exerted by the derivative relations increased gradually with repeated presentations. With 6 of the 7 subjects, the one‐node relations exerted more control than the two‐node relations during the process. However, the disparity between the one‐ and two‐node relations decreased with repeated presentations. Eventually, all derivative relations exerted complete control. The control exerted by derivative relations during induction was inversely related to the number of nodes separating the terms in the derivative relations. These results demonstrate that nodal distance is a determinant of the relatedness of stimuli in equivalence classes. The findings are discussed in terms of remote association, semantic memory networks, and the study of tra

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.53-345

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Two multiple‐schedule experiments with pigeons examined the effect of adding food reinforcement from an alternative source on the resistance of the reinforced response (target response) to the decremental effects of satiation and extinction. In Experiment 1, key pecks were reinforced by food in two components according to variable‐interval schedules and, in some conditions, food was delivered according to variable‐time schedules in one of the components. The rate of key pecking in a component was negatively related to the proportion of reinforcers from the alternative (variable‐time) source. Resistance to satiation and extinction, in contrast, was positively related to the overall rate of reinforcement in the component. Experiment 2 was conceptually similar except that the alternative reinforcers were contingent on a specific concurrent response. Again, the rate of the target response varied as a function of its relative reinforcement, but its resistance to satiation and extinction varied directly with the overall rate of reinforcement in the component stimulus regardless of its relative reinforcement. Together the results of the two experiments suggest that the relative reinforcement of a response (the operant contingency) determines its rate, whereas the stimulus‐reinforcement contingency (a Pavlovian contingency) determines its resistance

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.53-359

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Pigeons were trained on three‐component chain schedules in which the initial component was either a fixed‐interval or variable‐interval schedule. The middle and terminal components were varied among fixed‐interval fixed‐interval, variable‐interval variable‐interval, and an interdependent variable‐interval variable‐interval schedule in which the sum of the durations of the two variable‐interval components was always equal to the sum of the fixed‐interval fixed‐interval components. At issue was whether the response rate in the initial component was controlled by its time to primary reinforcement or by the temporal parameters of the stimulus correlated with the middle terminal link. The fixed‐interval initial‐link schedule maintained much lower response rates than the variable‐interval initial‐link schedule regardless of the schedules in the middle and terminal links. Nevertheless, the intervening schedules played some role: With fixed‐interval schedules in the initial links, response rates were consistently highest with independent variable‐interval schedules in the middle and terminal links and intermediate with the interdependent variable‐interval schedules; these initial‐link differences were predicted by the response rates in the middle link of the chain. With variable‐interval schedules in the initial links, response rates were lowest with the fixed‐interval fixed‐interval schedules following the initial link and were not systematically different for the two types of variable‐interval variable‐interval schedules. The results suggest that time to reinforcement itself accounts for

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.53-381

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Rats were trained on three‐ and four‐component multiple schedules in which two of the components were correlated with identical reinforcement schedules that remained unchanged throughout training. These target components differed in terms of whether their respective following schedules were either higher or lower in value. Unlike corresponding experiments previously reported with pigeons, higher response rates occurred in the target component followed by a higher valued schedule than in the target component followed by the lower valued schedule. Overall contrast effects occurred independently of these sequential effects, but were inconsistent across subjects. The results suggest that the effects of a following schedule of reinforcement are opposite for pigeons and rats, and that one reason previous studies have often failed to show contrast effects with rats is that the effects of the following schedule in rats are in competition with contrast dynam

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.53-395

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Ten acquisition curves were obtained from each of 4 pigeons in a two‐choice discrete‐trial procedure. In each of these 10 conditions, the two response keys initially had equal probabilities of reinforcement, and subjects' choice responses were about equally divided between the two keys. Then the reinforcement probabilities were changed so that one key had a higher probability of reinforcement (the left key in half of the conditions and the right key in the other half), and in nearly every case the subjects developed a preference for this key. The rate of acquisition of preference for this key was faster when the ratio of the two reinforcement probabilities was higher. For instance, acquisition of preference was faster in conditions with reinforcement probabilities of .12 and .02 than in conditions with reinforcement probabilities of .40 and .30, even though the pairs of probabilities differed by .10 in both cases. These results were used to evaluate the predictions of some theories of transitional behavior in choice situations. A trial‐by‐trial analysis of individual responses and reinforcers suggested that reinforcement had both short‐term and long‐term effects on choice. The short‐term effect was an increased probability of returning to the same key on the one or two trials following a reinforcer. The long‐term effect was a gradual increase in the proportion of responses on the key with the higher probability of reinforcement, an increase that usually continued for several

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.53-409

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Nine feral pigeons, 5 from an urban setting and 4 from a rural setting, were captured and maintained for 42 days under free‐feeding conditions comparable to those arranged for laboratory subjects. On average, birds increased their body weights by 17% over this period. The range of increase across birds was 9 to 30%. These findings suggest that the food deprivation arranged for laboratory pigeons, which is characteristically 80% of free‐feeding weights, may in some sense be less severe than it first appe

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1990.53-423

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1990

数据来源: WILEY