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M N Branch

Publications and source records attributed to M N Branch.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Responding of pigeons under variable-interval schedules of signaled-delayed reinforcement: effects of delay-signal duration.

Two experiments with pigeons examined the relation of the duration of a signal for delay ("delay signal") to rates of key pecking. The first employed a multiple schedule comprised of two components with equal variable-interval 60-s schedules of 27-s delayed food reinforcement. In one component, a short (0.5-s) delay signal, presented immediately following the key peck that began the delay, was increased in duration across phases; in the second component the delay signal initially was equal to the length of the programmed delay (27 s) and was decreased across phases. Response rates prior to delays were an increasing function of delay-signal duration. As the delay signal was decreased in duration, response rates were generally higher than those obtained under identical delay-signal durations as the signal was increased in duration. In Experiment 2 a single variable-interval 60-s schedule of 27-s delayed reinforcement was used. Delay-signal durations were again increased gradually across phases. As in Experiment 1, response rates increased as the delay-signal duration was increased. Following the phase during which the signal lasted the entire delay, shorter delay-signal-duration conditions were introduced abruptly, rather than gradually as in Experiment 1, to determine whether the gradual shortening of the delay signal accounted for the differences observed in response rates under identical delay-signal conditions in Experiment 1. Response rates obtained during the second exposures to the conditions with shorter signals were higher than those observed under identical conditions as the signal duration was increased, as in Experiment 1. In both experiments, rates and patterns of responding during delays varied greatly across subjects and were not systematically related to delay-signal durations. The effects of the delay signal may be related to the signal's role as a discriminative stimulus for adventitiously reinforced intradelay behavior, or the delay signal may have served as a conditioned reinforcer by virtue of the temporal relation between it and presentation of food.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Tolerance to effects of cocaine on schedule-controlled behavior: effects of fixed-interval schedule parameter.

Tolerance to the effects of cocaine on key pecking by pigeons, maintained by differently valued fixed-interval schedules of food presentation, was studied. Key pecking was established on a multiple fixed-interval 5-sec fixed-interval 30-sec fixed-interval 120-sec schedule. Cocaine (1.0-10.0 mg/kg) was administered acutely and then chronically (i.e., before each session) in 5.6 mg/kg doses. Acute cocaine administration produced dose-related decreases in response rates under all three schedules. When cocaine was administered chronically, response rates either recovered fully, or increased to the extent that no reinforcers were missed during the sessions. The development of tolerance was not systematically related to the schedule value. Considered in relation to previous research, these results indicate that different control rates of reinforcement, within the schedules and parameters studied, do not contribute to tolerance to cocaine's behavioral effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Behavioral tolerance to cocaine in squirrel monkeys: acute and chronic effects on complex operant behavior.

Four food-deprived squirrel monkeys were trained to emit complex sequences of responses. The sequences involved pressing lighted response keys in orders dictated by colors that illuminated the keys, and ranged in length from two to five responses. Appropriate completion of these behavioral chains could be followed by food presentation. Acute administration of a range of doses (0.1-1.7 mg/kg) of cocaine hydrochloride produced dose-related decreases in the rate of completing chains and in accuracy of performance during chains. There was little evidence that the drug's effects on overall accuracy were related to the length of the chain. Three of the monkeys were exposed to daily administration of a large dose of cocaine, first after daily sessions and then prior to sessions. Daily postsession administration did not alter the dose-effect curves, but daily presession injection did, indicating the development of behavioral or "contingent" tolerance. In all cases, tolerance was accompanied by an increase in reinforcement frequency relative to the frequency observed following acute administration. Omission of the daily dose during presession drug administration resulted in performance near original control levels indicating essentially no withdrawal effect. The findings illustrate the importance of behavioral factors in the development of tolerance to cocaine in a primate.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Responding of pigeons under variable-interval schedules of unsignaled, briefly signaled, and completely signaled delays to reinforcement.

In Experiment 1, three pigeons' key pecking was maintained under a variable-interval 60-s schedule of food reinforcement. A 1-s unsignaled nonresetting delay to reinforcement was then added. Rates decreased and stabilized at values below those observed under immediate-reinforcement conditions. A brief stimulus change (key lit red for 0.5 s) was then arranged to follow immediately the peck that began the delay. Response rates quickly returned to baseline levels. Subsequently, rates near baseline levels were maintained with briefly signaled delays of 3 and 9 s. When a 27-s briefly signaled delay was instituted, response rates decreased to low levels. In Experiment 2, four pigeons' responding was first maintained under a multiple variable-interval 60-s (green key) variable-interval 60-s (red key) schedule. Response rates in both components fell to low levels when a 3-s unsignaled delay was added. In the first component delays were then briefly signaled in the same manner as Experiment 1, and in the second component they were signaled with a change in key color that remained until food was delivered. Response rates increased to near baseline levels in both components, and remained near baseline when the delays in both components were lengthened to 9 s. When delays were lengthened to 27 s, response rates fell to low levels in the briefly signaled delay component for three of four pigeons while remaining at or near baseline in the completely signaled delay component. In Experiment 3, low response rates under a 9-s unsignaled delay to reinforcement (tandem variable-interval 60 s fixed-time 9 s) increased when the delay was briefly signaled. The role of the brief stimulus as conditioned reinforcement may be a function of its temporal relation to food, and thus may be related to the eliciting function of the stimulus.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Alterations in the effects of atropine on the behavior of pigeons following chronic administration.

The acute effects of atropine (0.01-1.0 mg/kg) on pigeons' key-pecking maintained under a variable-interval (VI) 60-sec schedule of food reinforcement were determined. Atropine decreased key-peck rates in a dose-dependent manner. A rate-decreasing dose of physostigmine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, was studied in combination with the range of atropine doses. The rate reduction produced by physostigmine was attenuated by some doses of atropine. An atropine dose which decreased key-peck rates was then administered to the pigeons every day after their experimental sessions (chronic post-session phase). During this regimen, the dose-effect curves for atropine and the combination of atropine and physostigmine were redetermined. Atropine was then given chronically prior to experimental sessions (chronic pre-session phase), and the dose-effect curves for atropine and the combinations of atropine and physostigmine were determined again. The pigeons became tolerant to the rate-reducing effects of atropine following chronic post-session administration. Physostigmine's effect alone was unchanged following chronic atropine administration for two pigeons, and was slightly greater for a third. The rate reduction caused by physostigmine was attenuated across a wider range of atropine doses in the two pigeons for which the effect of physostigmine alone was unchanged. The atropine/physostigmine interaction curve for the third pigeon was shifted to the right following chronic post-session atropine administration. No further changes in effects of either atropine alone or in combination with physostigmine were seen following chronic pre-session atropine administration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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PubMed1987

Cocaine tolerance: acute versus chronic effects as dependent upon fixed-ratio size.

The effects of cocaine on operant behavior were studied by examining fixed-ratio value as a factor in the development of tolerance. Pigeons pecked a response key under a three-component multiple schedule, with each bird being exposed to fixed-ratio values that were categorized as small, medium, or large. Administered acutely, cocaine (1.0 to 10.0 mg/kg) produced dose-related decreases in overall rate of responding. Responding maintained by the largest ratio was decreased by lower doses than those required to reduce rates of responding maintained by the other two ratio schedules. Following repeated daily administration of 5.6 mg/kg of cocaine, dose-effect functions (obtained from sessions during the chronic regimen by making substitutions for the daily dose) indicated tolerance under the smaller ratios, but no tolerance or less tolerance under the largest ratio. Thus, whether tolerance developed, and the degree to which it developed, depended on the ratio value. The results are partially consistent with the notion that tolerance to drug effects on schedule-controlled behavior will develop if drug administration initially reduces reinforcement frequency, but they indicate that reinforcement loss alone is not a sufficient condition for the generation of tolerance under such conditions. The findings suggest that amount of responding required for reinforcement, or "effort," may contribute to the development of tolerance to effects of cocaine.

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PubMed1984

Rate dependency, behavioral mechanisms, and behavioral pharmacology.

Behavioral pharmacology has become increasingly independent of the experimental analysis of behavior. At its beginning, behavioral pharmacology was closely related to the experimental analysis of behavior, with developments in each field aiding the other. Early attempts to systematize data in behavioral pharmacology culminated with the development of the rate-dependency concept, but as this principle was found to have more limited generality than originally was hoped, a theoretical void developed. This circumstance was followed by increased reliance on pharmacological theory as a basis for experimentation and interpretation, with an attendant decrease in emphasis on environmental variables and behavioral interpretations. Lack of interplay between behavioral pharmacology and the experimental analysis of behavior is detrimental to both disciplines because each could contribute significantly to the other. The current trend might be reversed if more research were directed at elucidating behavioral mechanisms of drug action.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Behavioral tolerance to stimulating effects of pentobarbital: a within-subject determination.

Squirrel monkeys were trained to press a lever under a multiple schedule of food presentation. In one stimulus condition responses that terminated interresponse times greater than 28 sec were followed by food presentation. In the other stimulus condition, an interval schedule of food presentation was presented that provided approximately the same frequency and distribution of food delivery as that observed under the interresponse-time schedule. Except when it was administered for the first time, 5.6 mg/kg sodium pentobarbital produced reliable increases in responding during the interresponse-time schedule. Behavioral tolerance to the rate-increasing effect was assessed in individual subjects by first administering the drug daily following each session, and then giving it daily before each session. Following post-session drugging, the effects of 5.6 mg/kg were not changed, but tolerance developed when the drug was administered pre-session. The way in which tolerance developed was consistent with the reinforcement-loss hypothesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Stimulus-food relations and free-operant postponement of timeout from response-independent food presentation.

Grain was briefly presented to food-deprived pigeons intermittently and response-independently except during signaled timeouts. During Experiment 1, key pecks postponed the next timeout for a specified interval. Rates of pecking during time in were inversely related to the length of time pecking postponed the next timeout. Response-independent presentation of temporal distributions of timeouts exactly matched to a preceding postponement condition decreased pecking rates during Experiment 2. These results indicate that key pecking of pigeons can be controlled by response-dependent postponement of timeout, but that responses elicited by stimulus-reinforcer relations inherent in timeout-postponement procedures may substantially modify rates and patterns of pecking.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1982

Behavioral effects of morphine and naloxone following chronic morphine administration.

The effects of morphine, naloxone, and combinations of these drugs were examined in squirrel monkeys under shock-postponement schedules. In the absence of a lever press, shocks could be presented every 4s. and each response postponed shock for 20s. Acutely, morphine (0.10-3.00 mg/kg) produced not only overall response-rate decreases, but also increases in the number of shocks, whereas naloxone (0.10-30.00 mg/kg) had little effect on responding. When given in combination with morphine, several doses of naloxone antagonized the rate-reducing and shock-increasing effects of morphine. Daily administration of morphine resulted in a substantial decrease in the number of shocks received and a moderate attenuation of the rate-decreasing effects of morphine (tolerance). Lower doses substituted for the fixed daily dose resulted in a smaller effect on behavior than under acute administration. Naloxone given in combination with the daily morphine dose or substitute for the daily morphine dose or substituted for the daily administration or morphine, produced effects similar to those seen prior to chronic drugging. Thus, behavioural effects of naloxone were not altered even though tolerance to morphine was observed. Larger doses of naloxone continued to antagonize the effects of morphine for at least 24 h. No signs of physical dependence were noted when naloxone was administered or when administration of morphine ended.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Effects of acute and daily cocaine administration on performance under a delayed-matching-to-sample procedure.

Food deprived pigeons were trained under a procedure in which trials began with the transillumination of one of three keys by red or green light. Pecking this key extinguished the light behind it and, after a variable delay (0.05, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, or 4.0 sec), was followed by illumination of the two other keys, one by red light and one by green. Pecks on the key that was the same color as the previously illuminated key could produce access to food. High levels of accuracy were obtained at all delays. The acute and chronic effects of cocaine on performance generated by this procedure (delayed-matching-to-sample) were studied. Acutely, cocaine (0.56-10.0 mg/kg) produced dose-related decreases in accuracy and in rate of completing trials. Accuracy at the longest delay was more sensitive to cocaine's effects. Daily administration of a comparatively large dose (5.6 mg/kg) resulted in tolerance to the rate-reducing and accuracy-reducing effects of large doses.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Effects of chlorpromazine on food-maintained and observing behavior.

Pigeons were trained to peck each of two response keys. Periods during which pecks on one key (the food key) produced access to grain according to a random-ratio 80 schedule alternated irregularly with periods during which food-key responses had no scheduled consequences (extinction). Both keys remained amber unless a random-ratio 8-response requirement on the second key (the observing key) was met. Completion of the observing-response requirement darkened the observing key and illuminated the food key either red or green for 15 s, depending on whether food could be obtained by pecking the food key. Food-key response rate was high and constant when food could be obtained (and the key was illuminated red). Observing-key response rate was somewhat lower but also constant when the observing key was amber, and near zero otherwise. Increasing doses of chlorpromazine (0.03-17.0 mg/kg, IM) decreased food-key response rate, but sometimes increased observing-key response rate. Additionally, larger doses were required to decrease response rate on the observing key. The differential effect of chlorpromazine upon the two performances may have been due to differences in reinforcer type (conditioned versus unconditioned) or other aspects of reinforcement.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Selective punishment of interresponse times.

Lever pressing by two squirrel monkeys was maintained under a variable-interval 60-second schedule of food presentation. When response-dependent electric shock was made contingent on comparatively long interresponse times, response rate increased, and further increases were obtained when the minimum interresponse-time requirement was decreased. When an equal proportion of responses produced shock without regard to interresponse time, rates decreased. Thus, shock contingent on long interresponse times selectively decreased the relative frequency of those interresponse times, and increased the relative frequency of shorter interresponse times, whereas shock delivered independent of interresponse times decreased the relative frequency of shorter interresponse times while increasing the frequency of longer ones. The results provide preliminary evidence that interresponse times may be differentiated by punishment, further supporting the notion that interresponse times may be considered functional units of behavior.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1981

Effects of ratio contingencies on responding maintained by schedules of electric-shock presentation (response-produced shock).

Squirrel monkeys' lever pressing was established under fixed-interval schedules of electric-shock presentation (response-produced shock). After appropriate temporal patterns of lever pressing were engendered, either fixed-ratio schedules of shock presentation were added to the fixed interval, or yoked variable-ratio schedules were substituted for the fixed-interval schedules. When fixed-ratio schedules were added, there was an initial rise in response rate and schedule-appropriate patterns of responding developed. After many sessions, however, responding ceased abruptly, in some cases with remarkable quickness. When variable-ratio schedules were substituted, responded declined gradually and eventually was poorly maintained. Ratio contingencies may not support responding as well as interval contingencies when electric shock is the maintaining event.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1980

Acute and chronic effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol on complex behavior of squirrel monkeys.

Squirrel monkeys were trained to press either two (phase one) or five (phase two) differently colored keys sequentially. Food presentation resulted if colors were pressed in a specific order, and high levels or accuracy were generated. Acutely, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol reduced accuracy and rate of responding in a dose-related fashion under both the two-key and five-key conditions. Responding, however, was more sensitive to the drug under the five-key procedure. Accuracy of responding at the beginning of a sequence tended to be more sensitive to drug effects than responding near the end. Daily (chronic) administration resulted in the development of tolerance to both the rate- and accuracy-reducing effects of the drug, although tolerance developed more rapidly to the accuracy-reducing effects. Tolerance developed more slowly under the five-key procedure than under the two-key procedure. Details of tolerance development were related to aspects of acute effects, suggesting that some facets of tolerance development may be predictable from acute drug effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Schedule-dependent tolerance to behavioral effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol when reinforcement frequencies are matched.

Squirrel monkeys pressed a lever under a multiple interresponse-time greater than 28-sec, modified random-interval schedule which provided comparable frequencies and temporal distributions of food pellet presentation in the two components. Daily intramuscular administration of either 0.25 or 1.00 mg/kg delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol resulted initially in suppression and/or disruption of responding and concomitant decreases in the frequency of food presentation in both components. Responding in both components next increased, resulting in recovery of baseline frequencies of pellet delivery during the random-interval component, but continued depression during the interresponse-time schedule. The drug-induced changes in responding under the interresponse-time schedule diminished with repeated injections, whereas response rates during the random-interval schedule sometimes remained elevated. Interresponse-time distributions under the interresponse-time schedule showed that with repeated administration of the drug only those characteristics which had the greatest effect on reinforcement frequency recovered to baseline levels. When drug injections were replaced by daily injections of the vehicle, responding was greatly disrupted only during the random-interval component. These findings are only partially consistent with other results which suggest aht tolerance development to the behavioral effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol is greatly enhanced if the drug initially produces reinforcement loss.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Changes in the effects of d-amphetamine on escape responding by its prior effects on punished responding.

Responses of squirrel monkeys adjusted the intensity of a continuous electric shock under two different schedules. In one schedule, responses decreased a shock intensity which otherwise was increased at a fixed rate (escape). In the other schedule, responses produced food pellets but also increased a shock intensity which otherwise decreased at a fixed rate (punishment). When animals were first studied under the escape schedule, d-amphetamine increased responding. Similarly, when animals had an intervening experience under the punishment schedule with no drugs administered, or when the drug was given but shock increments were tempoerarily eliminated during those drug sessions, d-amphetamine still increased subsequent escape responding. However, when animals under the punishment schedule were given d-amphetamine and shock increments occurred as usual during the drug session, the drug no longer increased either punished or subsequent escape responding. The effects of d-amphetamine on escape responding were completely different depending on the individual's prior drug experience.

Animals↗