Effects of concurrent schedules on human fixed-interval performance

Young adults performed a lever-pressing task for money on two schedules of reinforcement: concurrent fixed-interval 1 min—differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate 20-sec, and concurrent fixed-interval 1-min—fixed ratio 100 responses. All subjects were trained on both schedules. Fixed-interval performance concurrent with the differential reinforcement procedure was characterized by high constant rates with no post-reinforcement pauses. Fixed-interval performance concurrent with fixed ratio was characterized by low rates and lengthy post-reinforcement pauses. These results differ from those obtained in prior studies on the effects of conditioning history upon subsequent fixed-interval performance. The prior work, using non-concurrent procedures, had shown that fixed-interval performance following differential reinforcement of low rates was characterized by post-reinforcement pauses and low rates, while fixed-interval performance following fixed ratio exhibited high constant rates and no post-reinforcement pause. The present results suggest that alternative concurrent contingencies are another major determinant of human fixed-interval performance.     

The development of stimulus control with and without a lighted key

In two experiments, the effect of an illuminated response key on the acquisition of stimulus control by an airflow stimulus was assessed. In the first experiment, pigeons were given nondifferential training with airflow emerging from behind the response key in one of three conditions of illumination: trained to peck a lighted key, trained to peck an unlighted key with a houselight present, trained to peck a key in total darkness. After 10 days of training on a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement, all subjects were given a generalization test on airflow velocity. The gradients for subjects trained in the dark were sharp, while those for subjects trained in lighted conditions were shallow. In the second experiment, the effect of an irrelevant keylight on the acquisition of an airflow velocity discrimination was assessed. Two groups of pigeons were trained to discriminate two airflow velocities. One group was trained with a lighted response key and the other was trained to peck the response key in total darkness. The dark-trained subjects acquired the discrimination more rapidly. The results demonstrate that the acquisition of stimulus control by airflow with either a differential or nondifferential training procedure can be overshadowed by keylight.     

Changing the response unit from a single peck to a fixed number of pecks in fixed-interval schedules

Each of three pigeons was studied first under a standard fixed-interval schedule. With the fixed interval held constant, the schedule was changed to a second-order schedule in which the response unit was the behavior on a small fixed-ratio schedule (first a fixed-ratio 10 and then a fixed-ratio 20 schedule). That is, every completion of the fixed-ratio schedule produced a 0.7-sec darkening of the key and reset the response count to zero for the next ratio. The first fixed-ratio completed after the fixed-interval schedule elapsed produced the 0.7-sec blackout followed immediately by food. These manipulations were carried out under two different fixed-interval durations for each bird ranging from 3 min to 12 min. The standard fixed-interval schedules produced the typical pause after reinforcement followed by responding at a moderate rate until the next reinforcement. The second-order schedules also engendered a pause after reinforcement, but responding occurred in bursts separated by brief pauses after each blackout. For a particular fixed-interval duration, post-reinforcement pauses increased slightly as the number of pecks in the response unit increased despite large differences in the rate and pattern of key pecking. Post-reinforcement pause increased with the fixed-interval duration under all response units. These data confirm that the allocation of time between pausing and responding is relatively independent of the rate and topography of responding after the pause.     

Fixed-interval limited-hold avoidance with and without signalled reinforcement

Rats trained to lever press on a fixed-interval limited-hold avoidance schedule maintained a pattern of responding similar to that maintained by fixed-interval limited-hold schedules of positive reinforcement. But this positively accelerated pattern of behavior was maintained only when the occurrence of reinforcement was signalled by the presentation of a brief flash of light. This result suggests that the discriminative function of the reinforcer in avoidance is less pronounced than the discriminative function of the reinforcer in escape or positive reinforcement. It also suggests that the distinction between positive reinforcement and avoidance is not superfluous. Although the schedule of reinforcement is an important variable in determining the pattern of behavior, other variables, such as the nature (i.e., stimulus presentation, termination, or omission) of the reinforcer, are also potent determinants of behavior.     

Infantile handling and sex as determinants of the negative reinforcing effects of gentling

Summary BD IX rats were trained to avoid a black and white compartment which was associated with gentling. The rats were given 12 acquisition sessions in which they were stroked if they remained in the critical compartment at the end of the fifteen 20-sec intervals during the 5-min test period. The results indicated that the negative reinforcing effects of gentling were a function of the early handling history and sex of the rat.This research was aided by Grant APA-247 from the National Research Council of Canada. The author thanks David Wood for his active collaboration in conducting the experiment.     

An apparatus for apparent conditioning ofOctopus cyaneus Gray

An ann-out-of-water response was conditioned as an operant inOctopus cyaneus Gray. The response was limited to a vertical tube, 2.54 em i.d, Photoresistive sensors, illuminated with modulated light arranged around the tube above the waterline, detect the presence of an opaque object in the tube. The signal from this response detector is amplified and used to initiate a commercial motor-driven universal feeder according to the reinforcement schedule maintained by the logic control circuit. A sample cumulative record for perfonnance on a CRF schedule is given.     

A circuit to permit an electronic drinkometer to operate during footshock

A circuit to permit an electronic drinkometer to operate during footshock is described. The circuit employs a diode matrix that allows all grid bars to be connected at one point to form one electrode of the drinkometer; it is isolated at another point so as not to shortcircuit the impressed footshock.