scholarly journals BOUTS OF RESPONDING FROM VARIABLE-INTERVAL REINFORCEMENT OF LEVER PRESSING BY RATS

2003 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Shull ◽  
Julie A. Grimes
Keyword(s):  
Variable Interval ◽  
Lever Pressing

Sucrose Concentration as Reinforcement for Lever Pressing by Monkeys

1956 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald G. Conrad ◽  
Murray Sidman
Keyword(s):  
Food Deprivation ◽  
Rhesus Monkeys ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Sucrose Concentration ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Variable Interval Schedule ◽  
Interval Schedule ◽  
Satiation Effect ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Lever Pressing

3 rhesus monkeys were given various concentrations of sucrose for lever pressing on a variable interval schedule of reinforcement. 7 sucrose concentrations were studied at 2 levels of food deprivation. The response rates accelerated rapidly with increasing concentrations, and then declined after reaching a maximum, generally between 15 and 30% sucrose concentration. The decline was attributed to a satiation effect. The higher level of food deprivation tended to increase the response rate at all but the extreme high and low concentrations.

Conditioned Suppression and Acceleration of Two Concurrent Responses in Rhesus Monkeys

1969 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendon W. Henton ◽  
Charles L. Salzberg ◽  
John J. Jordan
Keyword(s):  
Conditioned Suppression ◽  
Rhesus Monkeys ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Interval Training ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Unavoidable Shock ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Initial Variable ◽  
Rate Of Response ◽  
Conditioned Suppression Training

Two rhesus monkeys were exposed to conditioned suppression training in which a 20-sec. stimulus, terminated by unavoidable shock, was superimposed upon a variable interval 90-sec. reinforcement schedule. A concurrent response which had no programmed consequence was recorded during initial variable interval training, acquisition, extinction, and reacquisition of conditioned suppression of the reinforced lever-pressing response. A peak in the distribution of response 2 reliably occurred 30 to 75 sec. following the average lever-pressing (response 1) reinforcement interval. With suppression training, the presentation of the suppression stimulus was reliably followed by a changeover from response 1 to response 2; the presentation of the unavoidable shock immediately resulted in a changeover from response 2 to response 1. The rate of response 2 during the suppression stimulus declined to near zero during extinction of conditioned suppression and increased to a high rate when the suppression stimulus was again terminated by unavoidable shock. The rate of response 2 was dependent upon the intensity of the unavoidable shock.

Duration of wheel-running reinforcement: Effects on reinforcement value and motivation in free-feeding and food-deprived rats.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Belke ◽  
W. David Pierce ◽  
Ian E. A. Cathart
Keyword(s):  
Wheel Running ◽  
Food Reinforcement ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Automatic Reinforcement ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Long Evans ◽  
Free Feeding ◽  
Reinforcement Value ◽  
Wheel Activity ◽  
Reinforcement Duration

Ten (pair housed) female Long-Evans rats were exposed to 5 s, 30 s, and 90 s wheel-running reinforcement durations on a response-initiated variable interval 20 s schedule as food deprivation was manipulated. On free feeding, never-deprived rats showed low wheel running and lever-pressing rates with long postreinforcement pauses (PRPs) for the 5-s reinforcement duration. Subsequently, when food deprived (Deprived 1), rats showed no effect of reinforcement duration on all measures. Under a second deprived condition (Deprived 2) with the rats maintained in single cages, there was no effect of housing (single vs. paired). When data from both deprivation assessments (Deprived 1 and Deprived 2) were combined, rats showed lower wheel running and overall lever-pressing rates with longer pauses on the 90-s duration compared to 30 s and 5 s bouts of wheel activity. The pattern of results challenges a reinforcement value interpretation, but is consistent with shifts in the motivational basis of wheel running. On free feeding, never-deprived rats were intrinsically motivated to run on wheels and operant lever-pressing was maintained at moderate rates by the automatic reinforcement of wheel running, except at the short reinforcement duration (5 s). When food deprived, motivation became food-related and rats showed high rates of lever pressing even at the shortest duration. The weak effects under initial deprivation (Deprived 1) raise questions about equivalence between wheel-running reinforcement duration and reinforcement magnitude using food reinforcement.

The Effects of a Signal for free or for Earned Reward: Implications for the Role of Response-Reinforcer Associations in Instrumental Performance

1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (2b) ◽  
pp. 95-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Hall ◽  
Stephen Channell ◽  
John M. Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Lever Press ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Free Food ◽  
Food Delivery ◽  
Instrumental Performance ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
Light Flashes

Pearce and Hall (1978) investigated the effects of making a brief flash of light contingent upon response in rats lever-pressing for food on a variable-interval (VI) schedule. When this signal occurred in conjunction only with reinforced responses the response rate was lowered with respect to a condition in which an equal number of light flashes occurred uncorrelated with reinforcement. The experiments reported here compared these effects with those produced by signalling “free” food deliveries in a similar way. Experiments I and II compared the effects of presenting correlated and uncorrelated schedules of light and food to rats given no opportunity to lever-press. The different schedules did not produce differences in response rate when the levers were made available. In Experiment III, free food was delivered to rats responding on a VI schedule. Signalling the delivery of earned food pellets produced a low response rate in comparison with a condition in which the free pellets were signalled. It is concluded that signalling food delivery is effective only when the rat must respond to earn the food and it is argued that the signal has its effect by overshadowing a response-reinforcer association.

Lever-Pressing Performance for Brain Stimulation on F-I and V-I Schedules in a Single-Lever Situation

1970 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 699-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Brown ◽  
Jay A. Trowill
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Brain Stimulation ◽  
Lever Press ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Fixed Interval ◽  
Schedule Of Reinforcement ◽  
Single Lever ◽  
Lever Pressing ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Stimulation Of

Rats were trained to lever press for electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB) and ultimately were assigned to either a fixed interval 1 min. (FI-1 min.) or a variable interval 1 min. (VI-1 min.) schedule of reinforcement. All Ss easily attained and maintained responding on the schedule to which they had been assigned. Patterns of responding during training and extinction were similar to those observed when conventional rewards, such as food or water, are used. Fixed-interval Ss demonstrated scalloped responding; variable-interval Ss demonstrated steady rates of responding. The implications of these results for understanding ESB as a reward are discussed.

scholarly journals Effects of Scopolamine on Conditioning of Lever Pressing

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-22
Author(s):  
Yectivani Juárez ◽  
Gabriela González-Martín ◽  
Rodolfo Bernal-Gamboa ◽  
Rodrigo Carranza ◽  
Javier Nieto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Session ◽  
Instrumental Response ◽  
Lever Press ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Conditioning Session ◽  
Conditioning Context ◽  
Contextual Conditioning ◽  
Cholinergic Antagonist ◽  
Lever Pressing

The aim of this work was to determine the effects of scopolamine, a cholinergic antagonist, on the conditioning of an instrumental response and the contextual conditioning of this response. Five groups of rats were trained to lever-press on a Variable Interval 30 s schedule in context A. Scopolamine was administered 15 min before each conditioning session to AB 0.01 mg/kg, AB 0.10 mg/kg and AB 1.00 mg/kg groups. The AA Saline and AB Saline groups received saline injections.Contextual conditioning of the lever-pressing response was assessed in one extinction session. The AA group received this extinction session in the conditioning context (A), while the AB groups received this session in a different context (B). Results showed that scopolamine impaired the conditioning of the lever-pressing response but no effects on contextual conditioning were found.

Enhancement of Food-Rewarded Instrumental Responding by an Appetitive Conditioned Stimulus

1981 ◽  
Vol 33 (1b) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Edgar ◽  
Geoffrey Hall ◽  
John M. Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Conditioned Stimulus ◽  
Variable Interval ◽  
Free Food ◽  
Variable Interval Schedule ◽  
Interval Schedule ◽  
Initial Training ◽  
Minimum Duration ◽  
Baseline Schedule ◽  
Schedule Of Reinforcement ◽  
Lever Pressing

Four experiments are reported in which a stimulus (with a minimum duration of 60 s) signalling the delivery of “free” food was presented to rats lever-pressing for food available on a variable interval schedule. It was found that responding was enhanced in the presence of the stimulus when the baseline schedule of reinforcement was lean (Experiment I) and that the enhancement was dependent upon the pairing of the stimulus with free food (Experiments II and III). Experiment IV showed that an enhancement could be found after initial training in which stimulus-food pairings were given to subjects that were not concurrently lever pressing for food. It is argued that these results are consistent with the suggestion that an appetitive conditioned stimulus can energise appetitive instrumental behaviour.

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