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THE EFFECTS OF MORPHINE ON FIXED‐INTERVAL PATTERNING AND TEMPORAL DISCRIMINATION
Author(s) -
Odum Amy L.,
Schaal David W.
Publication year - 2000
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.2000.74-229
Subject(s) - morphine , reinforcement , interval (graph theory) , food delivery , statistics , time perception , context (archaeology) , discrimination learning , schedule , psychology , audiology , mathematics , medicine , anesthesia , computer science , developmental psychology , social psychology , neuroscience , biology , paleontology , cognition , combinatorics , marketing , business , operating system
Changes produced by drugs in response patterns under fixed‐interval schedules of reinforcement have been interpreted to result from changes in temporal discrimination. To examine this possibility, this experiment determined the effects of morphine on the response patterning of 4 pigeons during a fixed‐interval 1‐min schedule of food delivery with interpolated temporal discrimination trials. Twenty of the 50 total intervals were interrupted by choice trials. Pecks to one key color produced food if the interval was interrupted after a short time (after 2 or 4.64 s). Pecks to another key color produced food if the interval was interrupted after a long time (after 24.99 or 58 s). Morphine (1.0 to 10.0 mg/kg) decreased the index of curvature (a measure of response patterning) during fixed intervals and accuracy during temporal discrimination trials. Accuracy was equally disrupted following short and long sample durations. Although morphine disrupted temporal discrimination in the context of a fixed‐interval schedule, these effects are inconsistent with interpretations of the disruption of response patterning as a selective overestimation of elapsed time. The effects of morphine may be related to the effects of more conventional external stimuli on response patterning.