Interactions of motivation and reinforcement during the performance of a simple instrumental reflex by a monkey

The dynamics of the performance of an instrumental task by Macaca rhesus monkeys was investigated in an automated experiment. Three monkeys were trained to complete a movement with a lever in response to a light stimulus. It was demonstrated that the performance of the instrumental reflex by the monkeys is comprised of the alternation of blocks of more or less continuous realizations and pauses between them. The relationship of the intensity of the work of the monkeys to the time from the beginning of the experiment was studied, and a comparison was made of the magnitude of the intensity for the three monkeys. The average intensity of the work of the monkeys within the blocks of continuous realizations is a constant and individual value. The influence of the degree of deprivation and of the delivery of out-of-turn reinforcement on the work of the monkeys was also investigated.