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THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERING RESPONSE‐FORCE REQUIREMENTS ON FIXED‐RATIO RESPONDING OF RATS
Author(s) -
Alling Ken,
Poling Alan
Publication year - 1995
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.1995.63-331
Subject(s) - lever , component (thermodynamics) , reinforcement , zoology , response time , mathematics , statistics , psychology , computer science , physics , biology , social psychology , thermodynamics , quantum mechanics , computer graphics (images)
Rats were exposed to two‐component multiple schedules of food delivery. In the first experiment, 15 responses were required to produce food in both components. A downward force of 0.25 N (25 g) was always required to operate the response lever in one component. In the other, the required force was 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, or 2.00 N (25, 50, 100, or 200 g). In the second experiment, 0.25 N of force operated the lever in one component, but in the other, the force requirement for five consecutive responses at the beginning, middle, or end of each ratio was increased from 0.25 to 2.00 N. In the third experiment, the number of responses required to produce food was reduced from 15 to 5, and then to 1. Again, the effects of altering response force from 0.25 to 2.00 N were examined. In general, as response force increased in all experiments, mean response rates decreased and mean interresponse times increased.