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Signal functions in delayed discriminative stimulus control by reinforcement sources
Toshikazu Kuroda1, Kennon A Lattal
1West Virginia University.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|April 5, 2014
Summary
Delayed reinforcement affects response rates. Signaling the delay improves accuracy, suggesting the response-reinforcer relation plays a discriminative role in behavior control.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Animal Cognition
Background:
- Response rates change when reinforcement is delayed.
- The discriminative functions of the response-reinforcer relation may explain these changes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the discriminative effects of delayed reinforcement.
- To examine how signaling the delay impacts behavior.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments using pigeons and a discrete-trials conditional discrimination procedure.
- Concurrent variable-interval schedules on side keys during a sample component.
- Varying delay conditions: full signal, partial signal, or unsignaled delay.
Main Results:
- Accuracy was highest with a full signal, slightly lower with a partial signal, and lowest with an unsignaled delay.
- Results align with effects of delays in conventional reinforcement schedules.
- Suggests a discriminative effect of the response-reinforcer relation.
Conclusions:
- Signaling delayed reinforcement influences accuracy in a dose-dependent manner.
- The response-reinforcer relation appears to have a discriminative function in controlling behavior under delayed reinforcement.
- Findings contribute to understanding the mechanisms of reinforcement schedules.
Keywords:
conditional stimulus controlcontingency detectiondelayed reinforcementkey peckpigeonsreinforcement sourcesresponse-reinforcer relationMore Related Videos
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