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Acquisition of a spatially defined operant with delayed reinforcement
1Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Alabama 36849-5214.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|March 1, 1993
Summary
Delayed reinforcement effectively establishes new behaviors in rats, even without immediate auditory cues. This study shows response acquisition is robust and doesn't solely rely on immediate feedback or specific response mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
- Operant Conditioning
Background:
- Investigating the role of immediate auditory stimuli in response acquisition under delayed reinforcement.
- Controlling for unprogrammed feedback from the operandum (response device).
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if an immediate auditory stimulus is necessary for acquiring responses under delayed food reinforcement.
- To examine the robustness of response acquisition with delayed reinforcement.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments using naive rats exposed to a tandem fixed-ratio 1 differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior 30-s schedule.
- Response defined as breaking a photocell beam.
- Experiment 1: Compared response acquisition with and without an immediate auditory stimulus.
- Experiment 2: Compared delayed reinforcement contingency to a baseline with no food delivery.
Main Results:
- Response rates increased significantly under delayed reinforcement in both conditions of Experiment 1.
- An immediate auditory stimulus facilitated acquisition and led to more efficient response patterns.
- Response rates in Experiment 2 exceeded baseline, and response patterns better matched the schedule requirements.
- Correspondence between response patterns and schedule requirements increased without a food contingency.
Conclusions:
- Response acquisition with delayed reinforcement is a robust phenomenon.
- Immediate external stimulus changes are not essential for mediating the temporal gap between response and reinforcer.
- Acquisition does not depend on a mechanically defined response.
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