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Schedule-induced defecation
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|July 1, 1982
Summary
Behavioral conditioning can control excessive defecation in rats. Specific reinforcement schedules, particularly interval schedules, induced defecation, while ratio schedules did not, offering insights into stress-related physiological responses.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
- Physiology
Background:
- Excessive defecation is often linked to stress.
- Understanding the control mechanisms of physiological responses is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the experimental induction and elimination of excessive defecation in rats.
- To determine the effects of different reinforcement schedules on defecation rates.
Main Methods:
- Rats were subjected to various schedules of positive reinforcement for lever pressing, including fixed-interval, variable-interval, fixed-ratio, and fixed-time schedules.
- Food and water were used as reinforcers.
- Defecation rates and other behaviors were observed.
Main Results:
- Fixed-interval (32-second) and variable-interval (32-second) schedules induced profuse defecation, unlike shorter interval schedules.
- Variable interval schedules showed slightly higher defecation rates than fixed-interval schedules.
- Fixed-time schedules also induced high rates of defecation, comparable to interval schedules.
- Fixed-ratio schedules did not systematically induce defecation, even when reinforcement density was similar to effective interval schedules.
- No other "emotional" behaviors were observed.
Conclusions:
- Specific operant conditioning schedules, particularly interval and fixed-time schedules, can reliably induce excessive defecation in rats.
- Defecation control is schedule-dependent and not a general stress response under these conditions.
- Reinforcement density alone does not predict defecation induction; temporal parameters are critical.