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Retention under changed‐reward conditions of persistence learned by infant rats
Author(s) -
Chen JawSy,
Amsel Abram
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420130505
Subject(s) - extinction (optical mineralogy) , persistence (discontinuity) , reinforcement , psychology , zoology , developmental psychology , audiology , medicine , biology , social psychology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , engineering
Abstract Two experiments were performed to determine whether or not persistence acquired under reinforcement conditions of infancy can be retained and transferred to adult reinforcing conditions. In Experiment I 2 groups of rats 14–15 days of age were trained in a runway under a partial (PRF) or continuous (CRF) schedule of milk‐suckling reinforcement. A 3rd group was trained under continuous nonreinforcement (NRF) conditions. The PRF and CRF groups acquired the approach response about equally, and the NRF showed a very small increase in speed. In immediate extinction, the PRF group was more resistant to extinction than its CRF counterpart. For the NRF group “extinction” produced a continuation of the low‐level “acquisition” performance. Experiment II showed that persistence acquired at 14–15 days with milk‐suckling reinforcement can be sustained through a 2‐week retention period including a phase of CRF food‐pellet reward.