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Related Concept Videos

Timing and Consequences on Behavior01:08

Timing and Consequences on Behavior

In operant conditioning, the timing of reinforcement is crucial. For animals like rats and cats, immediate reinforcement (within a few seconds) is much more effective than delayed reinforcement. For example, a food reward for a rat needs to follow within 30 seconds of pressing a bar to be effective. 
Humans, however, can respond to delayed reinforcers. We often make decisions between immediate small rewards and delayed larger rewards. This ability to delay gratification is a significant factor...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 24, 2026

A Novel Procedure for Evaluating the Reinforcing Properties of Tastants in Laboratory Rats: Operant Intraoral Self-administration
11:16

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Published on: February 6, 2014

Immediate postsession feeding reduces operant responding in rats.

John R Smethells1, Andrew T Fox, Jennifer J Andrews

  • 1Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, USA. jsmethells@gmail.com

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|March 6, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Immediate post-session feeding weakens operant behavior in rats. Delaying this feeding strengthens performance on progressive-ratio and variable-interval schedules, highlighting the importance of reinforcement timing.

Keywords:
lever presspostsession feedingprogressive ratioratvariable-interval

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral science
  • Animal behavior research
  • Operant conditioning

Background:

  • Operant behavior is influenced by reinforcement schedules.
  • The timing of reinforcement relative to a behavior can alter its effectiveness.
  • Understanding these dynamics is crucial for behavior modification and research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how immediate versus delayed post-session feeding affects rat performance.
  • To examine the impact of feeding time on progressive-ratio and variable-interval schedules.
  • To determine optimal feeding schedules for maintaining operant behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Rats were subjected to progressive-ratio and variable-interval schedules of reinforcement.
  • Immediate post-session feeding was compared with delayed post-session feeding.
  • Response rates and breakpoints were measured under different feeding conditions.

Main Results:

  • Immediate post-session feeding decreased the breakpoint on progressive-ratio schedules.
  • Response rates declined when feeding immediately followed short (15-min) and long (60-min) sessions.
  • Delayed feeding appeared to mitigate these negative effects on performance.

Conclusions:

  • The influence of reinforcement extends beyond the immediate experimental session.
  • Delayed post-session feeding is recommended to prevent weakening of operant behavior.
  • Careful consideration of reinforcement timing is essential in behavioral research and application.