Evidence of interaction between deprivation effects and stimulus control

Discriminative responding in pigeons was studied under multiple variable-interval extinction and variable-ratio extinction schedules, as deprivation was varied. Generally, the greater the accuracy of discrimination that developed during training, the smaller the effect of deprivation upon subsequent performance. This was true both in terms of changes in response rates, and in the relationship between response rates during food reinforcement and extinction. When discrimination was inaccurate, increases in deprivation resulted in disproportionate increases in responding during extinction, as compared to increases during food reinforcement components of the schedule. The results suggest that as stimulus control (accuracy) of responding increases, discriminative performance becomes less and less susceptible to influence by deprivation.