Response-reinforcer independence and the economic continuum: A preliminary analysis
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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Operant Protocols for Assessing the Cost-benefit Analysis During Reinforced Decision Making by Rodents
Published on: September 10, 2018
Abstract:
Three pigeons were exposed to 1-hr and 4-hr sessions during which they earned food under a fixed-ratio 50 schedule of reinforcement while obtaining additional food according to either a variable-interval or a variable-time schedule. Postsession food was provided after the 1-hr sessions. The frequency of the variable-interval and variable-time food presentations was varied under the two session durations. The various combinations of within-session earned and unearned food, as well as the postsession food, defined conditions on the open-to-closed economy continuum. Key pecks tended to increase as the frequency of either variable-interval or variable-time food decreased. An economic-continuum analysis based on an independence quotient as a measure of response-reinforcer independence is presented to account for the effects.
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