Premium
RESPONSE LATENCY AS A FUNCTION OF AMOUNT OF REINFORCEMENT
Author(s) -
Stebbins William C.
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1962.5-305
Subject(s) - reinforcement , latency (audio) , sucrose , zoology , tone (literature) , audiology , psychology , statistics , chemistry , toxicology , medicine , mathematics , computer science , social psychology , biology , food science , telecommunications , art , literature
Food‐deprived rats were trained to press and hold down a telegraph key in the presence of a light. Subsequent release of the key during a tone was followed by 0.15 ml of a 20‐percent sucrose solution as reinforcement. The S s were subsequently shifted to a 0‐percent and to a 5‐percent solution from the 20‐percent base line. The median RT and the variability of RT increased markedly as a result of the shift to the lower sucrose concentrations. For all S s, the change in median and variability was greater for the shift to the 0‐percent solution than for the shift to the 5‐percent solution. It is probable that median RT and variability of RT are inversely related to amount of reinforcement.