摘要:

The interresponse‐time reinforcement contingencies and distributions of interreinforcement intervals characteristic of certain variable‐interval schedules were mimicked by reinforcing each key peck with a probability equal to the duration of the interresponse time it terminated, divided by the scheduled mean interreinforcement interval. The interresponse‐time reinforcement contingency was then eliminated by basing the probability of reinforcement on the fifth interresponse time preceding the key peck. Even though distributions of interreinforcement intervals were unaffected by this manipulation, response rates consistently increased. A second experiment replicated this effect and showed it to combine additively with that of mean reinforcement rate. These results provide strong support for the contention that current analyses of variable‐interval response rates that ignore the inherent interresponse‐time reinforcement contingency may be seriously

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-3

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Three pigeons were trained on a matching procedure involving a sample component and a choice component. Responding in the sample component, according to either a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate schedule on some trials or a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐other‐behavior schedule on other trials, produced access to the choice component in which each of two keys was illuminated with a unique color. The correct choice response was defined by the contingency that was met to produce the choice. The food hopper operated for 1.5 seconds following an appropriate sample response and for 3 seconds following a correct choice response. A signal‐detection analysis showed that variations in the probability of presentation of the different contingencies systematically affected response bias but not sensitivity to the contingencies as stimuli. Substitution of a blackout for food at the end of the sample component did not differentially affect performance, but elimination of the delay between sample and choice components generally increased the sensitivity measure. The findings suggest a role for reinforcement contingency discrimination in schedule‐co

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-15

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

On discrete trials, two response keys were made available to hungry pigeons and food reinforcement depended on the order in which the required two key pecks occurred. In different phases, only one of the four possible two‐peck sequences (left‐left, left‐right, right‐left, and right‐right) produced food reinforcement. In each case, the pigeons learned to perform the correct two‐peck sequence more often than the incorrect sequences. Furthermore, the course of differentiation mastery indicated that both reinforcement history and response‐reinforcer contiguity influenced performance. These results reveal that response patterns comprising two instances of the same response left‐left and right‐right) or instances of two different responses (left‐right and right‐left) may function as operants, thereby extending the generality of conditioning principles from discrete responses to structured sequences of behavior. These and other results are discussed in terms of contiguity‐based and memory

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-23

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Within‐session temporal distributions of responding were investigated in three experiments using rats pressing a lever in a discrete‐trial omission procedure. This schedule entailed 60, one‐minute trials, and a sucrose solution was made available at the end of each trial in which no lever press occurred. In Experiment I, nonnaive rats acquired and maintained responding during this training. Moreover, the probability of a response during any session showed a strong and reliable tendency to increase from the beginning to the end of the session. These results were replicated in Experiment II, using naive animals. In Experiment III, alterations were made in the training procedure, including elimination of response‐contingent and noncontingent stimulus changes. Results indicate that stimulus change may be sufficient to maintain low levels of responding whether or not this change is contingent on res

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-31

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The primary data were peck‐by‐peck sequential records of four pigeons responding on several different concurrent variable‐interval schedules. According to the hypothesis that the subject chooses the alternative with the highest probability of reinforcement at the moment, response‐by‐response performance in concurrent schedules should show sequential dependencies. However, such dependencies were not found, and it was possible to describe molecular‐level performance with simple Markov chain models. The Markov model description implies that the momentary changeover probabilities were proportional to the overall relative reinforcement frequencies, and that changeover probabilities did not change as a function of previous responding. A second finding was that although a changeover‐delay procedure was omitted, relative response frequencies closely approximated relative reinforcemen

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-41

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Instructions can override the influence of programmed schedules of reinforcement. Although this finding has been interpreted as a limitation of reinforcement schedule control in humans, an alternative approach considers instructional control, itself, as a phenomenon determined by subjects' reinforcement histories. This approach was supported in a series of experiments that studied instructional and schedule control when instructions either did or did not accord with the schedule of reinforcement. Experiment I demonstrated that accurate instructions control discriminative performances on multiple avoidance schedules, and that such control persists in a novel discrimination. Experiments II and III showed that elimination of instruction‐following occurs when inaccurate instructions cause subjects to contact a monetary loss contingency. Experiment IV demonstrated the reinforcing properties of accurate instructions. Skinner's view of rule‐governed behavior is consistent with these findings, and can be extended to account for many aspects of instructional control of human operant behav

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-53

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

During Phase I, three female human subjects pressed a button for monetary reinforcement in five variable‐interval schedules specifying different frequencies of reinforcement. On alternate days, responding was also punished (by subtracting money) according to a variable‐ratio 34 schedule. In the absence of punishment, response rates conformed to Herrnstein's equation for single variable‐interval schedules. Punishment suppressed responding at all frequencies of reinforcement. This was reflected in a change in the values of both constants in Herrnstein's equation: the value of the theoretical maximum response‐rate parameter was reduced, and the parameter describing the reinforcement frequency corresponding to the half‐maximal response rate was elevated. During Phase II, the same five schedules (A) were in operation (without punishment), but in addition, a concurrent variable‐interval schedule (B) of standard reinforcement frequency was introduced. On alternate days, responding in Component B was punished according to a variable‐ratio 34 schedule. In the absence of punishment, absolute response rates conformed to equations proposed by Herrnstein to describe performance in concurrent schedules; the ratios of the response rates in the two components and the ratios of the times spent in the two components conformed to the Matching Law. When responding in Component B was punished, response rates in Component B were reduced and those in Component A were elevated, these changes being reflected in distortions of the matching

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-71

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

In two experiments, humans received tokens either on a fixed‐interval schedule for plunger pulling or various response‐nondependent fixed‐time schedules ranging from 16 to 140 seconds. Locomotor activity such as walking, shifting weight, or pacing was recorded in quarters of the interreinforcement interval to examine the induced characteristics of that behavior in humans. While performance was variable, several characteristics were present that have counterparts in experiments with nonhumans during periodic schedules of food reinforcement: (a) first quarter rates, and sometimes overall rates, of locomotor activity were greater during intervals that terminated in a visual stimulus and token delivery than those without; (b) overall rates of locomotor activity were greater during fixed‐time 16‐second schedules than during fixed‐time 80‐ or 140‐second schedules; (c) rates of locomotor activity decreased during the interreinforcement intervals; (d) locomotor activity was induced by response‐dependent and response‐nondependent token delivery. These results showed that the rate and temporal pattern of locomotor activity can be schedul

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-83

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Four White King pigeons in Experiment I were exposed to a fixed‐time 90‐second food schedule with successive access to water and a conspecific target. Drinking per session was sporadic and minimal, while attack per session occurred during most interfood intervals for all animals. Analysis of the temporal distribution of attack showed that the typical postreinforcement pattern of attack developed over the course of the experiment. In Experiment II, the same animals were exposed to a series of fixed‐time schedules ranging from 30 to 360 seconds with successive access to water and target. Time engaged in drinking and the number of interfood intervals with drinking were less than that of attack. Food and no‐food baselines, which have been typically used to assess schedule‐induced drinking and attack, respectively, were used to evaluate the effect of the schedule on attack and water ingestion. Relative to the no‐food baseline, both attack and drinking were enhanced by the schedule in all birds. Relative to the food baseline, drinking was slightly suppressed in three birds and attack was enhanced in all. For all animals, the food baseline resulted in more attack and drinking than the no‐

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-91

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Three pigeons were given extensive training on three‐key simultaneous matching problems using geometric‐form and hue stimuli. After acquisition of matching, the birds were tested with pairs of stimuli involving one or both novel members. Matching during the test stimuli occurred less often than during the later stages of the acquisition phase, but more often than would occur if no transfer had taken place. Greater positive transfer was observed for problems that involved one, rather than two, novel stimuli. In the second phase of the experiment, previously trained birds were shifted to problems that required symbolic matching,i.e., the pigeons had to associate a particular center‐key stimulus with a particular side‐key stimulus. On each trial, one of two simuli was presented on the center key, and two other stimuli, different from those used on the center key, were displayed on the side keys. When the problem shift was introduced, correct responding was impaired, but remained considerably above chance level and quickly recovered in following sessions. The results were interpreted as favoring a stimulus‐response‐chaining account of matchi

ISSN:0022-5002    

DOI:10.1901/jeab.1979.31-103

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1979

数据来源: WILEY