Some factors involved in the comparison of response systems: acquisition, extinction, and transfer of head-poke and lever-press Sidman avoidance

Head poking, a suggested natural escape reaction to shock for the rat, was compared to lever pressing in a Sidman avoidance study. Both responses could be emitted at any time, but only one was effective in a given session. Acquisition and extinction of the two responses were compared under both signalled and unsignalled avoidance. Then, a test for transfer was conducted in which acquisition conditions were re-instated, but the effectiveness of the responses was reversed. Three differences between responses were noted: (a) head poking was superior in reducing shock rates under signalled conditions; (b) head poking was more resistant to extinction, especially under signalled conditions; (c) under unsignalled conditions, animals were unable to learn to head poke if they had previously learned to lever press. Findings a and c were pursued in later experiments. Finding a depended on the location of the warning signal with respect to the response system. When the lever press required approach to the warning signal, the head poke was superior. But when the head poke required approach to the warning signal, the two responses were equally effective. Finding c depended on the absence of feedback for head poke during transfer. Two conclusions are offered: first, the two responses appear to obey the same laws when their topographical differences are taken into account. Second, response feedback appears to be more critical in transfer than in original acquisition.