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STIMULUS—FOOD PAIRINGS PRODUCE STIMULUS‐DIRECTED TOUCH‐SCREEN RESPONDING IN CYNOMOLGUS MONKEYS (MACACA FASCICULARIS) WITH OR WITHOUT A POSITIVE RESPONSE CONTINGENCY
Author(s) -
Bullock Christopher E.,
Myers Todd M.
Publication year - 2009
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.2009.92-41
Subject(s) - stimulus (psychology) , psychology , neutral stimulus , stimulus control , audiology , reinforcement , food delivery , conditioning , classical conditioning , communication , neuroscience , cognitive psychology , social psychology , medicine , mathematics , statistics , marketing , business , nicotine
Acquisition and maintenance of touch‐screen responding was examined in naïve cynomolgus monkeys ( Macaca fascicularis ) under automaintenance and classical conditioning arrangements. In the first condition of Experiment 1, we compared acquisition of screen touching to a randomly positioned stimulus (a gray square) that was either stationary or moving under automaintenance (i.e., banana pellet delivery followed an 8‐s stimulus presentation or immediately upon a stimulus touch). For all subjects stimulus touching occurred within the first session and increased to at least 50% of trials by the end of four sessions (320 trials). In the subsequent condition, stimulus touching further increased under a similar procedure in which pellets were only delivered if a stimulus touch occurred (fixed ratio 1 with 8‐s limited hold). In Experiment 2, 6 naive subjects were initially exposed to a classical conditioning procedure (8‐s stimulus preceded pellet delivery). Despite the absence of a programmed response contingency, all subjects touched the stimulus within the first session and responded on about 50% or more of trials by the second session. Responding was also sensitive to negative, neutral, and positive response contingencies introduced in subsequent conditions. Similar to other species, monkeys engaged in stimulus‐directed behavior when stimulus presentations were paired with food delivery. However, stimulus‐directed behavior quickly conformed to response contingencies upon subsequent introduction. Video recordings of sessions showed topographies of stimulus‐directed behavior that resembled food acquisition and consumption.