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REWARD SHIFT AND GENERAL ACTIVITY IN THE RAT
Author(s) -
WOOKEY P. E.,
STRONGMAN K. T.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1974.tb02775.x
Subject(s) - psychology , audiology , locomotor activity , developmental psychology , medicine
Food‐deprived hooded rats were exposed to 50 irregular 60 sec. presentations of a CS (light) in an activity monitoring situation. For one group the onset of the CS was accompanied by the delivery of a 300 mg food pellet. A second group were not fed in the presence of the CS. During 50 subsequent test presentations of the CS, half of each group were shifted to the other reward level on a random 50 per cent of occasions. Training conditions were then reinstituted for a further 50 CS presentations. Following both reward decrease — ‘frustration’ — and reward increase — ‘elation’ — activity in the presence of the CS exceeded that of controls always receiving the to‐be‐shifted‐to reward. Results were discussed with reference to the relationship between drive and general activity and to Amsel's theory of frustrative non‐reward, and were interpreted as supporting a competing response account of reward shift phenomena.