摘要:

In Phases 1 and 3, two Japanese monkeys responded on a multiple variable‐ratio 80 variable‐intervalXschedule, where the value ofXwas adjusted to ensure equal between‐schedule reinforcement rates. Components strictly alternated following the delivery of a food pellet, and each session ended following 50 components. Phase 2 differed from the others only in that the 50 pellets previously earned during the session were delivered together at session's end. Variable‐ratio response rates did not decrease across phases, but variable‐interval response rates decreased substantially during the Phase 2 procedure. This rate decrease was attributed to the food‐at‐session's‐end manipulation removing the greater immediacy of reinforcement provided by short interresponse times relative to long interresponse times. Without this time preference for short interresponse times, the variable‐interval interresponse‐time reinforcement feedback function largely controlled response emission, dictating a response‐rate reduction. This result was explained in terms of the economic notion of “ma

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-331

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Six pigeons were trained on concurrent variable‐interval schedules with unequal reinforcer durations for the two responses. The schedules arranged on the two keys were kept equal while they were varied in absolute size. As the overall reinforcer rate was increased, both response‐allocation and time‐allocation measures of choice showed a trend toward indifference, and measures of sensitivity to reinforcer‐duration ratios significantly decreased. Recent reports have shown that the generalized matching law cannot describe the changes in behavior allocation under constant delay‐, duration‐, or rate‐ratios when changes are made in the absolute levels of each of these variables. The present results complement these findings by demonstrating that the concatenated generalized matching law cannot describe the interactions of two reinforcer variables on behavi

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-339

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Six pigeons were trained in a concurrent‐chain procedure with constant variable‐interval 6‐s variable‐interval 12‐s terminal links. Five groups of conditions were arranged. Within a group of conditions, the duration of one initial‐link schedule was held constant and the duration of the other initial link was varied. The duration of the varied initial link was always longer than, or equal to, the constant initial‐link duration. The duration of the shorter initial link was varied across groups of conditions from 5 s to 70 s. The data from each group were well described by the generalized matching law. Sensitivity (a) to the terminal‐link entry ratio increased as the shorter initial‐link duration increased, but appeared to reach an asymptote at shorter initial‐link durations greater than 32 s. Terminal‐link bias did not change with changes in shorter initial‐link duration for the response‐allocation data, but showed a small increase with increasing shorter initial‐link duration f

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-351

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Two experiments investigated the effects of successive reinforcement contexts on choice. In the first, concurrent variable‐interval schedules of primary reinforcement operated during the initial links of concurrent chains. The rate of this reinforcement arranged by the concurrent schedules was decreased across conditions: When it was higher than the terminal‐link rate, preference for the higher frequency initial‐link schedule increased relative to baseline. (During baseline, a standard concurrent‐schedule procedure was in effect.) When the initial‐link reinforcement rate was lower than the terminal‐link rate, preference converged toward indifference. In the second experiment, a chain schedule was available on a third key while a concurrent schedule was in effect on the side keys. When the terminal link of the chain schedule was produced, the side keys became inoperative. Availability of the chain schedule did not affect choice between the concurrent schedules. These results show that only when successive reinforcement contexts areproducedby choice responding do those successive contexts affect choice in concurren

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-367

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

College students were instructed to press a button for points under a single reinforcement schedule or under a variety of reinforcement schedules. Instructions for a single schedule were either specific or minimal. Instructions on a variety of schedules involved specific instructions on eight different schedules of reinforcement. Subsequent to the varied training, responding under a fixed‐interval schedule occurred at a low rate. Both the minimal and specific instruction training led to fixed‐interval responding that was similar to the responding exhibited during training. These findings suggest that under certain conditions instructed behavior is sensitive to changes in contingenc

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-383

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In a matching‐to‐sample context, pigeons were taught two conditional discriminations according to one of three equivalence paradigms: train if A, then select B and if B, then select C; train if B, then A and if B, then C; or train if A, then B and if C, then B. Test trials without reinforcement revealed that the conditional relations did not satisfy the symmetrical and transitive properties of an equivalence relation. Apparently, only specific if … then relations were learned. Contrary to Kendall's (1983) findings, and probably as a consequence of procedural differences, none of the pigeons in the present experiment were observed to emit mediating behavior during the transitivity probe trials. The absence of symmetry and transitivity may be related to the individual stimuli not being reflexive. Behavioral techniques other than the commonly used matching‐to‐sample technique might better succeed in avoiding unintended stimulus control in the study of the formation of stimulu

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-395

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Reports have indicated that the behavioral effects of a drug can be related to the nondrug control rate of behavior in the absence of the drug. To investigate the purported relationship between control rate and drug rate, squirrel monkeys were trained under a fixed‐interval 300‐s schedule of stimulus‐shock termination, a procedure that engendered a wide range of response rates. A light illuminated the experimental chamber during the fixed interval, and the first lever press after 300 s had elapsed terminated the light for 30 s and precluded an electrical stimulus to the tail. Following acute intra‐muscular administration of cocaine (0.03–0.56 mg/kg), overall rate increased and different control rates of responding, during different parts of the fixed interval, converged toward a common rate. Subsequently, the schedule was changed to a multiple fixed‐interval 300‐s random‐interval 300‐s schedule; performance during the random‐interval component was characterized by steady responding at a uniformly high rate. Analysis of fixed‐interval and random‐interval performances following acute cocaine administration revealed convergence of response rates toward a common, uniform rate. Pentobarbital (0.3–10.0 mg/kg) only decreased overall rate, and different control rates of responding during the fixed interval did not converge toward a common rate. The results indicate that this type of analysis can be useful in comparing pharmacological agents from different classes and that the rate at which responding becomes uniform can provide a quantitative behavioral end point for characterizing

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-411

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1988.49-429

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1988

数据来源: WILEY