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EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE REINFORCEMENT SOURCES: A REEVALUATION
Author(s) -
Imam Abdulrazaq A.,
Lattal Ken A.
Publication year - 1988
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.1988.50-261
Subject(s) - reinforcement , peck (imperial) , schedule , differential reinforcement , food delivery , psychology , pecking order , computer science , social psychology , mathematics , ecology , geometry , marketing , business , biology , operating system
The effects of two alternative sources of food delivery on the key‐peck responding of pigeons were examined. Pecking was maintained by a variable‐interval 3‐min schedule. In the presence of this schedule in different conditions, either a variable‐time 3‐min schedule delivering food independently of responding or an equivalent schedule that required a minimum 2‐s pause between a key peck and food delivery (a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐other‐behavior schedule) was added. The differential‐reinforcement‐of‐other‐behavior schedule reduced response rates more than did the variable‐time schedule in most instances. The delay between a key peck and the next reinforcer consistently was longer under the differential‐reinforcement‐of‐other‐behavior schedule than under the variable‐time schedule. Response rates and median delay between responses and reinforcers were negatively correlated. These results contradict earlier conclusions about the behavioral effects of alternative reinforcement. They suggest that an interpretation in terms of response—reinforcer contiguity is consistent with the data.