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| International Paper Session - Contemporary Research in EAB II |
| Tuesday, May 29, 2007 |
| 11:30 AM–12:50 PM |
| Madeleine CD |
| Area: EAB |
| Chair: Heather M. Anson (Eastern Michigan University) |
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| Travel, Sensitivity to Reinforcement, and Multiple Alternatives. |
| Domain: Basic Research |
| FELIPE CABRERA (University of Guadalajara), Carlos F. Aparicio (University of Guadalajara) |
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| Abstract: When rats search for food in eight alternatives concurrently available and climb barriers to travel from one site to another, the distributions of times and responses often lag behind those of the reinforcers. This result may reflect the way in which the barriers are introduced into the situation. The present experiment explored this possibility with rats. Concurrent schedules of reinforcement with random interval components of different values, provided food in eight levers mounted in four chambers connected to a central platform. First, the rats were allowed to enter the chambers and switch from one lever to another without restrictions. Then access to the chambers was obstructed and the levers separated from one another by 300-mm-high barriers. Finally, the height of the barriers was increased from 300 to 700 mm. The shortest visit times, giving-up times, and giving-up responses were produced when rats visited the levers without restrictions. With the barriers in place these measures increased, reaching higher values when barrier height was increased. For responses, sensitivity to reinforcement, as estimated by the parameter s of the generalized matching law, increased with increasing travel requirement, indicating a tendency toward overmatching. However, for time allocation only one rat showed the same tendency. |
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| The Effects of Response Rate on Acquisition and Retention of Behavioral Chains Independent of Reinforcement Delivery. |
| Domain: Basic Research |
| MATTHEW L. PORRITT (Western Michigan University), Karen VanWagner (Western Michigan University), Claus Globig (Western Michigan University), Alan D. Poling (Western Michigan University) |
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| Abstract: Learning tasks by performing correct repetitions "as fast as you can," termed rate-building or fluency-building, has been used for decades in instructional strategies and a large body of literature exists documenting its usefulness. A decade ago fluency was proposed to be a new paradigm in behavioral psychology. So far, however, rate-building and its effects have not been examined in a controlled experimental setting with animals. A recent review of the rate-building literature determined that controlled research determining the actual variables that are responsible for the enhanced performance caused by rate-building has not appeared, and also called for research to determine which of three variables is primarily responsible for the benefits of rate-building: rate of responding, rate of reward, or number of learning opportunities. The present series of studies is designed to examine the effects of rate-building in pigeons and the separate effects of these three variables. |
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| Conceptual and Empirical Aspects of the Response-Reinforcer Relations in the Maintenance of Operant Behavior. |
| Domain: Basic Research |
| GERSON YUKIO TOMANARI (University of São Paulo), Cristina Moreira Fonseca (University of São Paulo) |
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| Abstract: We aim to analyze the role of selected aspects of response-reinforcer relations (contingency and contiguity, in particular) to the maintenance of operant behavior. Data from three experiments with rats will establish the empirical bases for discussion. The first study examined the effects of a fixed, unsignaled and non-resetting delay of reinforcement on the rate and distribution of responses under interval, ratio, and time schedules of reinforcement. The second systematically manipulated the values of the delay of reinforcement. Finally, the third study analyzed the maintenance of responses under different frequencies of response-independent presentations of the “reinforcer”. In general, the results showed different effects of the delay of reinforcement depending on the schedule used. The rate and distribution of responses decreased as the delay of reinforcement increased. However, the highest the number of response-independent presentations of the “reinforcer” (i.e., the highest frequency of short delays of reinforcement in the absence of response-reinforcer contingency), the lowest the maintenance of the responding was. This set of data will be discussed at the light of the role of the response-reinforcer contiguity to the operant behavior. |
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