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SCHEDULE‐INDUCED DEFECATION BY RATS DURING RATIO AND INTERVAL SCHEDULES OF FOOD REINFORCEMENT
Author(s) -
Wylie A. Michael,
Layng Michael P.,
Meyer Kim A.
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.1993.60-611
Subject(s) - reinforcement , defecation , schedule , lever , psychology , interval (graph theory) , zoology , statistics , mathematics , computer science , medicine , surgery , social psychology , biology , engineering , mechanical engineering , combinatorics , operating system
Lever pressing in rats was maintained by continuous and intermittent schedules of food while defecation was monitored. In Experiment 1, reinforcement densities were matched across variable‐ratio and variable‐interval schedules for three pairs of rats. Defecation occurred in all 3 rats on the variable‐ratio schedule and in all 3 rats on the yoked variable‐interval schedule. In Experiment 2, fixed‐ratio and fixed‐interval schedules with similar reinforcement densities maintained lever pressing. Defecation occurred in 3 of 4 rats on the fixed‐ratio schedule and in 4 of 4 rats on the fixed‐interval schedule. Almost no defecation occurred during continuous reinforcement in either experiment. These results demonstrate that defecation may occur during both ratio and interval schedules and that the interreinforcement interval is more important than the behavioral requirements of the schedule in generating schedule‐induced defecation.