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LOW‐RESPONSE‐RATE CONDITIONING HISTORY AND FIXED‐INTERVAL RESPONDING IN RATS
Author(s) -
Lefrancois Janet R.,
Metzger Barbara
Publication year - 1993
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.1993.59-543
Subject(s) - conditioning , reinforcement , schedule , operant conditioning , interval (graph theory) , psychology , statistics , mathematics , computer science , social psychology , combinatorics , operating system
Bar presses by one group of rats were conditioned under a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate reinforcement schedule immediately prior to conditioning under a fixed‐interval schedule. In a second group of rats, bar presses were conditioned first under a differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate schedule and then under a fixed‐ratio schedule prior to conditioning under a fixed‐interval schedule. Low response rates occurred under the fixed‐interval schedule only when it was immediately preceded by low‐rate conditioning. Otherwise, fixed‐interval responding was similar to responding under the fixed‐ratio schedule. This finding suggests that responses of laboratory animals are sensitive to immediate history, and, unlike human responses, are relatively insensitive to a history of low‐rate conditioning when it is followed by high‐rate conditioning.