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Contrafreeloading, reinforcement rate, and behavioral momentum
Christopher A Podlesnik1, Corina Jimenez-Gomez2
1Florida Institute of Technology and The Scott Center for Autism Treatment, United States; The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Behavioural Processes
|April 6, 2016
Summary
Organisms exhibit contrafreeloading, working for food despite free access. This study found that richer food reinforcement schedules increased response persistence in pigeons, supporting behavioral momentum theory.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral science
- Animal behavior
Background:
- Contrafreeloading describes the phenomenon where organisms work for a reward when an identical reward is freely available.
- Understanding the factors influencing contrafreeloading is crucial for behavioral science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of training reinforcement rates on contrafreeloading behavior in pigeons.
- To examine the role of behavioral momentum theory in explaining contrafreeloading persistence.
Main Methods:
- A within-subject and within-session design was employed using pigeons.
- Variable-interval schedules with leaner (30/hr) and richer (120/hr) food reinforcement rates were arranged.
- Both pre-session and within-session feeding conditions were tested.
Main Results:
- Pigeons demonstrated contrafreeloading, with responding decreasing but persisting despite free food availability.
- Response persistence was greater in the richer reinforcement component, especially with extended exposure.
- Pre-session feeding led to unsystematic changes in responding but maintained greater persistence in the richer component.
Conclusions:
- Higher training reinforcement rates appear to increase response persistence in contrafreeloading behavior.
- Behavioral momentum theory provides a potential framework for understanding the quantified behavioral processes in contrafreeloading.
- The interplay between feeding conditions and reinforcement rates reveals complex, not fully understood, behavioral processes in contrafreeloading.
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