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M B WALLER

Publications and source records attributed to M B WALLER.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1963

Effects of pentobarbital on fixed-ratio reinforcement.

Certain doses of pentobarbital consistently increased the rate of pecking engendered by a fixed-ratio schedule of 30 responses in a group of 13 pigeons, and still higher doses produced decrements in rate of responding. For individual subjects, the dose-effect functions were qualitatively similar, but differed with respect to the doses producing the maximum increase and subsequent decrease in rate. In general, the maximum occurred at lower doses and the decrement was greater at the highest dose in the birds with the highest control rates. It was also possible to distinguish between the effects of pentobarbital and several other drugs on the behavior maintained by FR 30. The results indicate that changes in rate of responding on FR 30 after drug administration are dose-dependent, drug-specific effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1963

The effects of unavoidable shocks on a multiple schedule having an avoidance component.

Two dogs were maintained on a multiple schedule having both a food reinforced and an avoidance component (Mult VI 1' S(Delta) Avoid(SS20 RS20) S(Delta)). The effects of superimposing an Estes-Skinner procedure for delivering unavoidable shocks on all components of the multiple schedule were observed. The buzzer-shock pairing of the Estes-Skinner procedure produced an increased rate of responding on the avoidance component of the schedule and also on the S(Delta) components. No persistent change in rate was observed on the food component during the pre-shock stimulus. Control performances on all components could be regained by either extinguishing or eliminating the buzzer-shock pairing. Extinction of the avoidance responding had little effect on the increased rates of responding produced by the Estes-Skinner procedure on the S(Delta) and avoidance extinction components and did not lead to a conditioned suppression of the food reinforced responding. Rate of responding during the pre-shock stimulus was observed to be relatively independent of changes in the maintaining schedules. Responding during the pre-shock stimulus could be conditioned and maintained after an extensive history of avoidance extinction.

Animals↗
PubMed1962

Effects of chlorpromazine on appetitive and aversive components of a multiple schedule.

A multiple schedule having both an appetitive and an avoidance component was maintained in two dogs to create a complex behavioral base line for observing the effects of chlorpromazine. Both soluble and "Spansule" chlorpromazine generated similar functions relating drug dose to measures of behavioral output. Although the dose ranges and the drugging procedures differed markedly for the different preparations of CPZ, the functions generated were comparable. There was no evidence that chlorpromazine had a differential depressing effect as a function of type of reinforcement. At low doses, rates of responding on the food-reinforced components increased slightly, whereas rates on the avoidance components remained relatively unchanged. At higher doses, both components showed an approximately equal depression of responding. These results are discussed with reference to some of the logical and experimental difficulties inherent in making comparisons across components of a multiple schedule and across schedules in general.

Animals↗
PubMed1962

The operant control of vocalization in the dog.

Control over the vocal responses of three dogs was established using operant-conditioning procedures. Several points of interest were observed in the data. First, fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement generated a vocal response topography which was similar in detail to that of a "motor" bar-nosing response. Second, vocal responding was brought under the control of external visual stimuli as a result of differential reinforcement. Third, good stimulus control was maintained on a multiple schedule containing a vocal-response component and a bar-response component. Fourth, the stimulus control on the multiple schedule transferred with minimal disruption to a chain schedule requiring a sequence of 10 bar responses followed by 10 vocal responses. Fifth, because vocal and bar responses are not mutually exclusive, concurrent responding tended to develop on the chain schedule. These results were discussed with reference to the advisability of applying the terms operant and respondent to unconditioned behavior, and, particularly, to unconditioned verbal behavior.

Animals↗