Response–reinforcer contiguity versus response‐rate–reinforcer‐rate covariance in rats' lever pressing: Support for a multiscale view

2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (3) ◽  
pp. 530-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
William M. Baum ◽  
Carlos F. Aparicio
Keyword(s):  
Response Rate ◽  
Reinforcer Rate ◽  
Lever Pressing

Sucrose Concentration as Reinforcement for Lever Pressing by Monkeys

1956 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald G. Conrad ◽  
Murray Sidman
Keyword(s):  
Food Deprivation ◽  
Rhesus Monkeys ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Sucrose Concentration ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Variable Interval Schedule ◽  
Interval Schedule ◽  
Satiation Effect ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Lever Pressing

3 rhesus monkeys were given various concentrations of sucrose for lever pressing on a variable interval schedule of reinforcement. 7 sucrose concentrations were studied at 2 levels of food deprivation. The response rates accelerated rapidly with increasing concentrations, and then declined after reaching a maximum, generally between 15 and 30% sucrose concentration. The decline was attributed to a satiation effect. The higher level of food deprivation tended to increase the response rate at all but the extreme high and low concentrations.

Effects of Quality and Quantity of Reinforcement Upon Response Rate in Acquisition and Extinction

1966 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 819-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Schaeffer ◽  
Barbara Hanna
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Albino Rats ◽  
Sucrose Content ◽  
Sprague Dawley ◽  
Acquisition Session ◽  
Repeated Acquisition ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Quality Of Reinforcement

This experiment investigated the effects of quality and quantity of reinforcement upon a lever-pressing response, within the context of repeated acquisition and extinction sessions. Eighteen Sprague-Dawley albino rats were subjected to a 2-by-3 experimental design which incorporated two levels of quality of reinforcement (8% and 32% sucrose pellets) and three levels of quantity of reinforcement (20, 40, or 80 pellets given in each acquisition session). Rate of responding during each acquisition session varied directly with sucrose content of the pellet, but was independent of number of reinforcements (pellets) received in each acquisition session. In extinction, total number of responses varied directly with both number of reinforcements and sucrose content of the pellet. Latency to the first lever-pressing response in both acquisition and extinction was found to be heterogeneous for all Ss and insensitive to variations in quantity and quality of reinforcement.

Rapid Reduction of Off-Task Behavior in Retarded Children by Use of Light-Out

1985 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 499-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip W. Drash ◽  
Mary R. Murrin ◽  
Sheldon E. Jordan ◽  
Hewitt B. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Positive Reinforcement ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Discrete Trial Training ◽  
Discrete Trial ◽  
Rapid Reduction ◽  
Therapeutic Implications ◽  
Task Behavior ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Alternating Treatment Design ◽  
Treatment Design

The effectiveness of a light-out procedure in reducing periods of off-task behavior in retarded children was evaluated. Four children ages 3 to 10 yr. (mean IQ 32) were trained on a lever-pressing task as an analogue to discrete-trial training procedures. Positive reinforcement sessions were alternated with concurrent escape/avoidance procedures during which light-out was contingent upon nonresponding in an alternating treatment design. The light-out contingency rapidly and effectively reduced the length of time off-task and slightly increased response rate. Educational and therapeutic implications for retarded and autistic children include adaptation of the procedure for decreasing off-task behavior during discrete-trial training, such as in speech and language remediation.

scholarly journals The Role of Response-Reward Correlation in Stimulus-Response Overshadowing

1983 ◽  
Vol 35 (1b) ◽  
pp. 53-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger M. Tarpy ◽  
Stephen E. G. Lea ◽  
Marie Midgley
Keyword(s):  
Food Reward ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Lever Response ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Fourth Experiment

Rats pressed levers for food reward which was delivered, when appropriate, 0·4 s after the response. For one group, the delay interval was filled by a light cue; for the other group, the same number of lights was given but they were not correlated with food delivery. In Experiment I, all lever presses were reinforced and there were no differences in response rate between groups. In Experiments II and III, lever pressing was rewarded according to a VI and VR schedule respectively. Group differences were observed in Experiment II but they disappeared in Experiment III. The results of Experiments I and II show that a reward-related stimulus does not overshadow a lever response unless the stimulus is a better predictor of reward. Differences in salience or competition from sign-tracking behaviors were ruled out as causes of this phenomenon. Experiment III demonstrated, however, that a weak response-reward correlation is not a sufficient condition for the overshadowing effect. A fourth experiment replicated the results of Experiment III using naive animals. The results of these last two experiments are not consistent with an information theory approach unless (a) a response-units concept is adopted or (b) the cue involved in overshadowing is not the pre-food light but the end of a temporal interval, whose salience is enhanced by the light.

Length of Experimental Session as a Parameter of Response Rate under a Non-discriminated

1965 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-249
Author(s):  
Avoidance Schedule ◽  
H. M. B. Hurwitz
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Training ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Aversive Stimulus ◽  
Response Rates ◽  
Experimental Session ◽  
Avoidance Schedule ◽  
Training Technique ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Independent Variable ◽  
Fixed Period

Following the stabilization of response rate under an avoidance schedule which was defined by two temporal parameters, the shock-shock interval and the interval by which each response postponed the onset of shock, the length of the experimental session was changed. It was found that after the subjects had been exposed to a longer session of avoidance schedule, their rates of response were considerably increased without a corresponding reduction in the number of shocks received. In recent years considerable use has been made of an avoidance training technique in which the performance of the response functions to postpone the onset of an aversive stimulus, usually shock, by a fixed period. In the absence of the required response the aversive stimulus is programmed to occur at regular intervals. Experiments by Sidman (1953) have shown that the critical independent variable controlling the rate of avoidance response, is the shock postponement interval (R*S). All other things being equal, the rat in the lever pressing situation will respond at a rate which is inversely related to the R*S interval, low intervals generating high response rates and high intervals generating low response rates. However, under very low values of R*S, the response rate may break down altogether. The animal then receives shock at the rate determined by the shock-shock interval parameter. As a result of an apparatus failure, Sidman, Herrnstein and Conrad (1957) discovered that the response rate can also be increased by occasionally shocking the animal in spite of its avoidance responses. An apparatus failure has also been responsible for the isolation of yet another parameter of response rate in the shock-postponement avoidance situation and is reported here. Briefly, it was found that a change in the duration of an experimental session influences the response rate on subsequent sessions.

The Effects of a Signal for free or for Earned Reward: Implications for the Role of Response-Reinforcer Associations in Instrumental Performance

1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (2b) ◽  
pp. 95-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Hall ◽  
Stephen Channell ◽  
John M. Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Lever Press ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Free Food ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Instrumental Performance ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Light Flashes

Pearce and Hall (1978) investigated the effects of making a brief flash of light contingent upon response in rats lever-pressing for food on a variable-interval (VI) schedule. When this signal occurred in conjunction only with reinforced responses the response rate was lowered with respect to a condition in which an equal number of light flashes occurred uncorrelated with reinforcement. The experiments reported here compared these effects with those produced by signalling “free” food deliveries in a similar way. Experiments I and II compared the effects of presenting correlated and uncorrelated schedules of light and food to rats given no opportunity to lever-press. The different schedules did not produce differences in response rate when the levers were made available. In Experiment III, free food was delivered to rats responding on a VI schedule. Signalling the delivery of earned food pellets produced a low response rate in comparison with a condition in which the free pellets were signalled. It is concluded that signalling food delivery is effective only when the rat must respond to earn the food and it is argued that the signal has its effect by overshadowing a response-reinforcer association.

Appetitive Pavlovian-Instrumental Interactions: Effects of Inter-Stimulus Interval and Baseline Reinforcement Conditions

1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (4b) ◽  
pp. 257-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter F. Lovibond
Keyword(s):  
Reinforcement Schedule ◽  
Interstimulus Interval ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Enhancement Effect ◽  
Instrumental Performance ◽  
Stimulus Interval ◽  
Inter Stimulus Interval ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Baseline Response ◽  
Lever Pressing

Experiment I manipulated two variables which appear to influence whether a signal for food enhances or suppresses food-rewarded instrumental performance: interstimulus interval (ISI) during classical conditioning and instrumental reinforcement schedule during testing. In two groups a 10-s conditioned stimulus (CS) and food were paired (10-s and 20- to 100-s ISI), while in a third group they were unpaired. During signalled reinforcement of lever-pressing (S+), the CS suppressed responding in both paired groups. During signalled extinction (S−), responding in the 10-s ISI group was suppressed during the CS and enhanced for 60 s after CS offset; responding in the 20- to 100-s ISI group was enhanced both during the CS and for 120 s after CS offset. Experiment II examined whether the long ISI enhancement effect would occur when the baseline response rate was lowered by satiation rather than extinction. A 20- to 100-s CS and food were paired in one group and unpaired in another. After near-satiation on a CRF schedule, CS presentations caused a reduction in responding in both groups, with no significant difference between the two groups. The results of the two experiments were interpreted in terms of an interaction between the expectancy of food generated by stimuli conditioned at short and long ISIs and the expectancy of food availability controlled by the instrumental schedule.

scholarly journals FEEDBACK FUNCTIONS, OPTIMIZATION, AND THE RELATION OF RESPONSE RATE TO REINFORCER RATE

2006 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul L. Soto ◽  
Jack J. McDowell ◽  
Jesse Dallery
Keyword(s):  
Response Rate ◽  
Reinforcer Rate

Manipulation of Response Rate and Status in Eyewitness Testimony

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dannie Sue Mezei ◽  
Frederick G. Grieve ◽  
Kristie Moore ◽  
Julie George
Keyword(s):  
Response Rate ◽  
Eyewitness Testimony
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