ERIC Number: EJ997544
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Jan
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-5002
EISSN: N/A
Bouts of Responding: The Relation between Bout Rate and the Rate of Variable-Interval Reinforcement
Shull, Richard L.; Grimes, Julie A.; Bennett, J. Adam
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, v81 n1 p65-83 Jan 2004
By nose poking a lighted key, rats obtained food pellets on either a variable- interval schedule of reinforcement or a schedule that required an average of four additional responses after the end of the variable-interval component (a tandem variable-interval variable-ratio 4 schedule). With both schedule types, the mean variable interval was varied between blocks of sessions from 16 min to 0.25 min. Total rate of key poking increased similarly as a function of the reinforcer rate for the two schedule types, but response rate was higher with than without the four-response requirement. Analysis of log survivor plots of interresponse times showed that key poking occurred in bouts. The rate of initiating bouts increased as a function of reinforcer rate but was either unaffected or was decreased by adding the four-response requirement. Within-bout response rate was insensitive to reinforcer rate and only inconsistently affected by the four-response requirement. For both kinds of schedule, the ratio of bout time to between-bout pause time was approximately a power function of reinforcer rate, with exponents above and below 1.0. (Contains 1 table, 11 figures and 1 footnote.)
Descriptors: Reinforcement, Intervals, Time Management, Animals, Responses, Reaction Time, Experiments
Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. Available from: Indiana University Department of Psychology. Bloomington, IN 47405. Tel: 812-334-0395; Fax: 812-855-4691; e-mail: jeab@indiana.edu; Web site: http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jeab/index.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A