Evolutionary theory prediction: Response rate as a joint function of reinforcement rate and reinforcer magnitude

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J McDowell ◽  
Shubhang Arashanapalli
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Reinforcement Rate ◽  
Reinforcer Magnitude ◽  
Joint Function ◽  
Prediction Response

scholarly journals Cue duration determines response rate but not rate of acquisition of Pavlovian conditioning in mice

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (11) ◽  
pp. 2026-2035
Author(s):  
Joseph M Austen ◽  
David J Sanderson
Keyword(s):  
Pavlovian Conditioning ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Reinforcement Rate ◽  
Estimation Theory ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Rate Estimation ◽  
Conditioning Rate ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Conditioned Responding ◽  
Associative Analysis

The duration of a conditioned stimulus (CS) is a key determinant of Pavlovian conditioning. Rate estimation theory (RET) proposes that reinforcement rate is calculated over cumulative exposure to a cue and the reinforcement rate of a cue, relative to the background reinforcement rate, determines the speed of acquisition of conditioned responding. Consequently, RET predicts that shorter-duration cues require fewer trials to acquisition than longer-duration cues due to the difference in reinforcement rates. We tested this prediction by reanalysing the results of a previously published experiment. Mice received appetitive Pavlovian conditioning of magazine approach behaviour with a 10-s CS and a 40-s CS. Cue duration did not affect the rate at which responding emerged or the rate at which it peaked. The 10-s CS did elicit higher levels of responding than the 40-s CS. These results are not consistent with rate estimation theory. Instead, they are consistent with an associative analysis that assumes that asymptotic levels of responding reflect the balance between increments and decrements in associative strength across cumulative exposure to a cue.

Herrnstein's Equation: Data from 110 Rats

1993 ◽  
Vol 73 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1355-1361 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Bradshaw ◽  
E. Szabadi
Keyword(s):  
Normal Distribution ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Response Strength ◽  
Reinforcement Rate ◽  
Half Maximum ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hyperbolic Curve ◽  
Sucrose Reinforcement ◽  
Herrnstein's Equation

110 rats were trained under a series of variable-interval schedules of sucrose reinforcement (0.6 M, 50 μl), covering a wide range of scheduled interreinforcement intervals. Response and reinforcement rates recorded during the last five sessions of exposure to each schedule were used to fit Herrnstein's (1970) hyperbolic ‘response strength’ equation to the data from each rat The equation accounted for >80% of the data variance in 90%, and >90% of the variance in 60% of the sample. The distribution of the values of Rmax, the asymptote of the hyperbolic curve, did not depart significantly from normality. However, the distribution of the values of KH, the reinforcement rate needed to maintain the half-maximum response rate, was markedly skewed; logarithmically transformed values of KH conformed to a normal distribution. The data provide further support for the applicability of Herrnstein's equation to variable-interval performance; it is suggested that studies involving comparison of the parameters of the equation between groups of subjects should adopt logarithmic transformation of the values of KH.

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