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PubMed2006

Effects of partial reinforcement and time between reinforced trials on terminal response rate in pigeon autoshaping.

Partial reinforcement often leads to asymptotically higher rates of responding and number of trials with a response than does continuous reinforcement in pigeon autoshaping. However, comparisons typically involve a partial reinforcement schedule that differs from the continuous reinforcement schedule in both time between reinforced trials and probability of reinforcement. Two experiments examined the relative contributions of these two manipulations to asymptotic response rate. Results suggest that the greater responding previously seen with partial reinforcement is primarily due to differential probability of reinforcement and not differential time between reinforced trials. Further, once established, differences in responding are resistant to a change in stimulus and contingency. Secondary response theories of autoshaped responding (theories that posit additional response-augmenting or response-attenuating mechanisms specific to partial or continuous reinforcement) cannot fully accommodate the current body of data. It is suggested that researchers who study pigeon autoshaping train animals on a common task prior to training them under different conditions.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Biofeedback training program: multiple channels, displays, and schedules of reinforcement.

A microcomputer-based biofeedback training program is presented that can be used (with minor modifications) under different hardware configurations. The program interacts friendly with the user, providing access and recording of up to eight different channels at the same time (although only four can be visualized). Within each channel, the user has control upon eight different variables (protocol), independently of each other. Different displays, sounds, sampling speeds, schedules of reinforcement, graphical presentation of the data and statistical analysis are provided to accommodate the feedback properties to various clinical and experimental applications.

Biofeedback, Psychology↗
PubMed1978

Analysis of rocking behavior.

Operant conditioning techniques were applied to the study of stereotyped body-rocking movements. Six mentally retarded children were tested individually in a fully automated situation under the following conditions: (a) free operant baseline; (b) intense auditory stimulation; (c) variable-interval (VI) and fixed-ratio (FR) reinforcement schedules; (d) differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL); (e) differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO); and (f) noncontingent reinforcement. The results indicated: (a) intense auditory stimulation increased the rate of rocking movements in four of six subjects; (b) VI and FR schedules generated curves that are representative of these schedules; (c) DRL schedules decelerated high-rate rocking; (d) DRO schedules eliminated high-rate rocking; (e) noncontigent reinforcement increased variability and resulted in decreased rate of responding. In conclusion, the data support the hypothesis that body-rocking movements in the mentally retarded are an operant and reflect the established characteristics of reinforcement schedules and operant controls.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1991

Comparison of factor-analyzed Adolescent Reinforcement Survey Schedule (ARSS) responses from Japanese and American adolescents.

The Adolescent Reinforcement Survey Schedule (ARSS) was administered to a sample of male and female late adolescent college students from Japan (N = 500). The responses to the ARSS are factor analyzed using a principal component method. The results of the factor-analyzed ARSS from the Japanese sample are compared and contrasted with the results from a previous study (Holmes et al., 1987) in which ARSS was administered to a sample of American male and female college students (N = 231). Both the American and Japanese samples produced 10 interpretable factors. A recommendation is made to replicate the present study with groups of early and mid-adolescents in each culture in order to study shifts in reinforcers during different periods of adolescent development.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Bias of phencyclidine discrimination by the schedule of reinforcement.

Pigeons, trained to discriminate phencyclidine from saline under a procedure requiring the bird to track the location of a color, received cumulative doses of phencyclidine, pentobarbital, or d-amphetamine with a variety of schedules of reinforcement in effect (across phases). When the same second-order schedules were used to reinforce responding after either saline or phencyclidine administration, stimulus control by phencyclidine did not depend on the schedule parameter. When different second-order schedules were used that biased responding toward the phencyclidine-correlated key color, pigeons responded on the phencyclidine-correlated key at lower doses of phencyclidine and pentobarbital than when the second-order schedule biased responding toward the saline key color. A similar but less marked effect was obtained with d-amphetamine. Attempts to produce bias by changing reinforcement magnitude (duration of food availability) were less successful. A signal-detection analysis of dose-effect curves for phencyclidine under two of the second-order schedules employed suggested that at low doses of phencyclidine, response bias is a major determinant of responding. As doses were increased, position preferences occurred and response bias decreased; at higher doses both response bias and position preference decreased and discriminability increased. With low doses of pentobarbital, responding again was biased but increasing doses produced position preference with only small increases in discriminability. At low doses of d-amphetamine responding also was biased, but bias did not decrease consistently with dose nor did discriminability increase. These experiments suggest that the schedule of reinforcement can be used to bias responding toward or away from making the drug-correlated response in drug discrimination experiments, and that signal-detection analysis and analysis of responding at a position can be used to separate the discriminability of the drug state from other effects of the drug on responding.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Nicotine self-administration in rats on a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement.

RATIONALE: Robust intravenous (i.v.) nicotine self-administration (SA) in rats has been reported by several laboratories, including our own, using fixed ratio (FR) schedules of reinforcement. Studies on other drugs of abuse, however, suggest that progressive ratio (PR) schedules may provide additional information not gained using FR schedules. OBJECTIVE: Here, we attempt to establish and characterize nicotine SA on a PR. METHODS: One study allowed animals to acquire SA on a FR at four doses of nicotine (0.02, 0.03, 0.06, 0. 09 mg/kg) before being switched to a PR. A second study examined extinction by saline substitution or pretreatment with the nicotinic antagonist, mecamylamine, including a preliminary analysis into the role of secondary reinforcers in the extinction process. RESULTS: SA of nicotine on a PR was stable across repeated sessions. The number of infusions earned on a PR correlated with infusion rate on a FR; however, a large portion of the variance in SA on a PR could not be accounted for by infusion rate on a FR. Infusions on a PR increased across the same range of doses that produced a decrease in the infusion rate on a FR. Extinction of responding occurred after saline substitution or pretreatment with mecamylamine, and animals re-acquired when nicotine was again available without pretreatment. The presence of drug-paired stimuli appeared to lengthen the extinction process. CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine supports stable SA on a PR. Since PR and FR schedules may measure different aspects of nicotine reinforcement, PR schedules may be valuable in further characterizing group and individual differences in nicotine reinforcement.

Animals↗
PubMed1970

A response-initiated fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement.

On a tandem fixed-ratio one fixed-interval schedule, the first response after reinforcement initiates a fixed interval of time and the first response after the interval has elapsed is reinforced. Pigeons trained with that schedule of food reinforcement paused after reinforcement for a period of time that approximated the fixed-interval duration for values of that duration ranging from 3.75 to 60 sec. Cumulative records revealed response patterns best described as break-and-run.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1962

Interlocking schedules of reinforcement.

Four male pigmented rats were exposed to a procedure designed to investigate the relation between several performance measures and a schedule continuum ranging from FR 36 to FI 2 through four intermediate interlocking schedules. On all schedules, each subject developed a stable performance that was generally break-and-run. Analysis of the cumulative records, post-S(R) breaks, and running rates showed a continuum of performance related to the schedule continuum.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Independent ethanol- and sucrose-maintained responding on a multiple schedule of reinforcement.

Assessment of drug effects on two different reinforcers at the same time requires that each reinforcer be sampled at approximately the same time. One procedure that effectively produces this result is the use of a multiple schedule of reinforcement in which two different reinforcers are presented in alternating 2-min components. In our study, sucrose and ethanol solutions were made available after appropriate lever-press responding. Subjects were trained to self-administer 10% ethanol using a sucrose-substitution procedure and to discriminate light cues associated with the different reinforcers until stable reinforcer-directed responding was achieved on both the ethanol- and the sucrose-associated lever during the changing 2-min components of the schedule. Subsequently, the reinforcer solution presented on one lever was held constant while the concentration of the alternate reinforcer was manipulated, i.e., ethanol concentrations of 0 to 15% and sucrose concentrations of 0 to 10% were assessed. This multiple schedule procedure resulted in sustained and independent ethanol- and sucrose-reinforced behavior. Manipulation of the characteristics of one reinforcer had no effect on behavior maintained by the alternate reinforcer. Increases in sucrose concentration resulted in increases in sucrose-directed responding with no change in ethanol responding, and increases in ethanol concentration resulted in increases in ethanol intake with no change in sucrose responding. Our methods can be used to examine differential drug effects on ethanol- and sucrose-reinforced behavior in the same animal over a single time course without the confounds or interference from the concurrently available reinforcer.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Use of a fixed consecutive number schedule of reinforcement to investigate the effects of pimozide on behavior controlled by internal and external stimuli.

The effects of the neuroleptic pimozide, a specific dopamine receptor blocker, on behavior maintained under different degrees of stimulus control was examined by using a fixed consecutive number (FCN) schedule of reinforcement with pigeons. This schedule requires that at least eight consecutive responses be made on one key (work key) before a response on a second key (reinforcement key) will be reinforced. For half the birds no change in external stimuli accompanied the eight response (FCN-8) while for the other half the color of the work key changed from white to red after the eight peck (FCN-SD). Both schedules resulted in equal rates of baseline responding. Four doses of pimozide (vehicle, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 mg/kg) were administered in a Latin Square sequence after baseline responding was stable. Similar pimozide-induced decreases in responding were observed in both conditions. However, pimozide selectively altered response patterns under the FCN-8 condition. The failure of the FCN-SD procedure to display a similar effect demonstrated that the use of salient exteroceptive stimuli can modulate behavioral deficits induced by pimozide. This conclusion has important implications for theories hypothesizing that dopamine subserves reward processes.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Effects of Great Lakes fish consumption on brain PCB pattern, concentration, and progressive-ratio performance.

This study investigated the effects of consumption of Great Lakes fish on progressive ratio performance, and on the pattern and concentrations of brain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene (DDE), and mirex in the rat. Adult, male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a 30% diet of either Lake Ontario salmon (LAKE), Pacific Ocean salmon, or lab chow control for 20 or 65 days. Following the treatment regimen, half the rats from each group were sacrificed immediately for gas chromatographic analysis of organochlorine contaminants, and the other half were tested on a multiple fixed-ratio-progressive-ratio reinforcement schedule and then sacrificed for analysis. Consumption of Lake Ontario fish resulted in significantly higher levels of brain PCBs, DDE, and mirex relative to controls, but still well within human exposure ranges (<1 microg/g fat). Consumption of Lake Ontario fish for 20 or 65 days produced an average brain PCB concentration of 457 and 934 ng/g fat, respectively. Consumption of laboratory rat chow or Pacific Ocean salmon for 20 or 65 days produced an average brain PCB concentration of 240, 464, and 441 ng/g fat, respectively. Moreover, both LAKE-fed groups showed a much more heavily chlorinated pattern of brain PCBs than all control groups, as evidenced by both significant increases in the most heavily chlorinated PCB congeners and significant increases in the average chlorine biphenyl. All LAKE brains contained significant concentrations of DDE and mirex, whereas no control brains contained any detectable quantities. Analysis of progressive-ratio performance indicated that LAKE rats responded normally during fixed-ratio schedules but quit significantly sooner than control rats on a progressive-ratio 5 (PR5) schedule, indicating reduced persistence on progressively leaner reinforcement schedules. Analysis of brain PCBs indicated that total PCBs were most strongly related to PR5 performance. These data indicate that consumption by rats of contaminated Lake Ontario fish produces (1) increased concentrations of PCBs, DDE, and mirex in the brain, (2) a more heavily chlorinated distribution of PCBs in the brain, and (3) reduced persistence of progressive-ratio reinforcement schedules. While these behavioral changes are related to brain PCB level, more work is necessary before the effects can be directly attributed to PCBs.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of triethyltin on schedule dependent and schedule induced behaviors under different schedules of reinforcement.

The subacute effects of triethyltin (TET) on operant responding and adjunctive behavior were assessed using either a fixed ratio (FR-30) or fixed interval (FI-1 min) schedule of reinforcement. Response rate decreased for rats on the FR-30 schedule given 1.5 mg/kg whereas animals on the FI-1 min schedule showed decreases in presses and pellets obtained at 1.5 mg/kg and in water intake at 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg. When the animals on the FI-1 min schedule were allowed to recover body weight, decreases in presses, pellets obtained, licking, and water intake occurred at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg. Schedule induced and schedule dependent behaviors were affected by low doses of TET. Rats at recovered body weight were most sensitive and affected by the lowest TET doses.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1982

Comparisons between one-key and two-key versions of the sinewave schedule for pigeons.

When the rate of reinforcement for pigeons' key pecking varied over time following a sine waveform, performances were more consistent and reliable if a constant-rate reinforcement schedule was concurrently available on a second key than if only the sinewave-varying reinforcement schedule was available. In the two-key version, response rates clearly followed varying reinforcement rates with the same frequency, with no phase lag, and without breaks. In both versions, pecking rate was a power function of reinforcement rate. Sinewave-schedule performance waveforms qualified for engineering methods of frequency analysis and met criteria for a standard measurement system.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1986

Intravenous self-administration of fencamfamine and cocaine by beagle dogs under fixed-ratio and progressive-ratio schedules of reinforcement.

Catheterized beagle dogs were given access to response-contingent intravenous injections of fencamfamine (FEN) or cocaine (COC) injections under a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement. Both drugs maintained self-administration behavior considerably above saline levels; there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between the number of injections per daily session and the dose per injection. Presession treatment with the dopaminergic antagonist pimozide (PIM) appreciably altered both the FEN and COC dose-effect curves, suggesting a dopaminergic component in the reinforcing properties of these substances. When tested under a progressive-ratio (PR) schedule, both FEN and COC maintained nearly identical FR-values which were considerably above those seen for saline. It appears from these data that FEN may have a cocaine-like abuse potential.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Effects of quipazine on behavior under a multiple schedule of reinforcement.

The effects of three doses of quipazine (1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg) on the performance of rats under a multiple fixed-ratio 15 fixed-interval 60-sec schedule of food reinforcement were examined. In the absence of drug, response rates under the fixed-ratio component were much higher than response rates under the fixed-interval component. Rates under the fixed-ratio component were decreased by quipazine in dose-dependent fashion, while response rates under the fixed-interval component were increased by the lowest dose and decreased by the two higher doses of the drug.

Animals↗
PubMed1969

Studies on responding under fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement: the effects on the pattern of responding of changes in requirements at reinforcement.

In pigeons responding under a 180-sec fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement, the frequency distribution of the duration of the final interresponse time before the reinforcer was compared with the distribution of the preceding two interresponse times. The results confirmed qualitatively and quantitatively the expected preferential reinforcement of longer interreinforcement times under fixed-interval reinforcement. Requirements at reinforcement were then changed to eliminate the preferential reinforcement of longer interresponse times. Local patterns and mean rate of responding could change, without the characteristic fixed-interval pattern of increasing responding through the interval (scalloping) being much affected. It is concluded that this characteristic pattern of fixed-interval responding does not depend crucially on effects of the reinforcer at the moment of reinforcement, but rather to effects extending over much longer periods of time than just the last interresponse time.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

60 Hz electric fields and incandescent light as aversive stimuli controlling the behavior of rats responding under concurrent schedules of reinforcement.

Several reports have shown that animals will sometimes engage in behaviors that reduce their exposure to a 60 Hz electric field (E-field). The field, therefore, can function as an aversive stimulus. In other studies, the E-field at equivalent strengths failed to function as an aversive stimulus. The present experiment, using rats, demonstrates how factors other than field strength can influence whether a subject engages in behavior that reduces field exposure. The general design consisted of giving the rat a choice between two alternatives, one of which sometimes included an added stimulus. Each subject was trained to press each of two levers to obtain food. Pressing one lever was reinforced intermittently under a variable interval 2 min schedule (VI 2); pressing the other lever was reinforced by a second VI 2 schedule operating independently of the first. Under this concurrent schedule the rat spent 50% of the daily 50 min session responding to each of the levers, indicating that they were equally "valued." Next, while the schedules remained in effect, the first response to one of the levers turned on a 100 kV/m E-field which remained on until the rat pressed the other lever. The time spent responding under the schedule associated with the field was reduced by about 5-10%. When the procedure was changed so that no lever presses produced food, i.e., extinction, but the added stimulus contingency remained, the rats spent even less time in the presence of the field. Similar outcomes were observed during both the concurrent food or extinction schedules when incandescent light was used. Thus, both an E-field and incandescent light functioned as aversive stimuli, but the magnitude of the aversiveness was small. Aversiveness depended not only on stimulus intensity, but also on behavioral factors.

Animals↗