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DELAYED REINFORCEMENT OF FIXED‐RATIO PERFORMANCE WITHOUT MEDIATING EXTEROCEPTIVE CONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT
Author(s) -
Kendall Stephen B.,
Newby William
Publication year - 1978
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.1978.30-231
Subject(s) - timeout , reinforcement , psychology , schedule , audiology , statistics , computer science , social psychology , mathematics , medicine , operating system
The performance of pigeons was studied under conditions in which the completion of a fixed‐ratio requirement was not contiguous with the presentation of a reinforcer. Timein and timeout periods alternated throughout the experimental sessions. Responses made by an experimental bird during the timein period were accumulated, and when a fixed‐ratio requirement had been met, grain was presented to the experimental bird and a yoked control following their first response in the next timein period. Across most manipulations of the fixed‐ratio requirement and of the duration of the timeout period, the response rates of the experimental birds were considerably higher than those of their controls, suggesting that the response‐reinforcer dependency controlled the behavior of the experimental bird in the absence of a close temporal association between responding on the ratio schedule and reinforcer presentations.