Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1998 Sep;70(2):103–121. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1998.70-103

Simple and conditional visual discrimination with wheel running as reinforcement in rats.

I H Iversen 1
PMCID: PMC1284679  PMID: 9841250

Abstract

Three experiments explored whether access to wheel running is sufficient as reinforcement to establish and maintain simple and conditional visual discriminations in nondeprived rats. In Experiment 1, 2 rats learned to press a lit key to produce access to running; responding was virtually absent when the key was dark, but latencies to respond were longer than for customary food and water reinforcers. Increases in the intertrial interval did not improve the discrimination performance. In Experiment 2, 3 rats acquired a go-left/go-right discrimination with a trial-initiating response and reached an accuracy that exceeded 80%; when two keys showed a steady light, pressing the left key produced access to running whereas pressing the right key produced access to running when both keys showed blinking light. Latencies to respond to the lights shortened when the trial-initiation response was introduced and became much shorter than in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, 1 rat acquired a conditional discrimination task (matching to sample) with steady versus blinking lights at an accuracy exceeding 80%. A trial-initiation response allowed self-paced trials as in Experiment 2. When the rat was exposed to the task for 19 successive 24-hr periods with access to food and water, the discrimination performance settled in a typical circadian pattern and peak accuracy exceeded 90%. When the trial-initiation response was under extinction, without access to running, the circadian activity pattern determined the time of spontaneous recovery. The experiments demonstrate that wheel-running reinforcement can be used to establish and maintain simple and conditional visual discriminations in nondeprived rats.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (215.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Belke T. W. Running and responding reinforced by the opportunity to run: effect of reinforcer duration. J Exp Anal Behav. 1997 May;67(3):337–351. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1997.67-337. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beneke W. M., Schulte S. E., vander Tuig J. G. An analysis of excessive running in the development of activity anorexia. Physiol Behav. 1995 Sep;58(3):451–457. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(95)00083-u. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Collier G., Hirsch E. Reinforcing properties of spontaneous activity in the rat. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1971 Oct;77(1):155–160. doi: 10.1037/h0031588. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Eikelboom R., Mills R. A microanalysis of wheel running in male and female rats. Physiol Behav. 1988;43(5):625–630. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(88)90217-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fisher W., Piazza C. C., Bowman L. G., Hagopian L. P., Owens J. C., Slevin I. A comparison of two approaches for identifying reinforcers for persons with severe and profound disabilities. J Appl Behav Anal. 1992 Summer;25(2):491–498. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1992.25-491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Iversen I. H. Acquisition of matching-to-sample performance in rats using visual stimuli on nose keys. J Exp Anal Behav. 1993 May;59(3):471–482. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1993.59-471. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Iversen I. H., Sidman M., Carrigan P. Stimulus definition in conditional discriminations. J Exp Anal Behav. 1986 May;45(3):297–304. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1986.45-297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Iversen I. H. Techniques for establishing schedules with wheel running as reinforcement in rats. J Exp Anal Behav. 1993 Jul;60(1):219–238. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1993.60-219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Iversen I. Matching-to-sample Performance In Rats: A Case Of Mistaken Identity? J Exp Anal Behav. 1997 Jul;68(1):27–45. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1997.68-27. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. KAGAN J., BERKUN M. The reward value of running activity. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1954 Apr;47(2):108–108. doi: 10.1037/h0058877. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Looy H., Eikelboom R. Wheel running, food intake, and body weight in male rats. Physiol Behav. 1989 Feb;45(2):403–405. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(89)90147-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mathis C. E., Johnson D. F., Collier G. H. Procurement time as a determinant of meal frequency and meal duration. J Exp Anal Behav. 1995 May;63(3):295–311. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1995.63-295. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mathis C. E., Johnson D. F., Collier G. Food and water intake as functions of resource consumption costs in a closed economy. J Exp Anal Behav. 1996 May;65(3):527–547. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1996.65-527. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. PREMACK D. Reversibility of the reinforcement relation. Science. 1962 Apr 20;136(3512):255–257. doi: 10.1126/science.136.3512.255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. PREMACK D., SCHAEFFER R. W., HUNDT A. REINFORCEMENT OF DRINKING BY RUNNING: EFFECT OF FIXED RATIO AND REINFORCEMENT TIME. J Exp Anal Behav. 1964 Jan;7:91–96. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1964.7-91. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pace G. M., Ivancic M. T., Edwards G. L., Iwata B. A., Page T. J. Assessment of stimulus preference and reinforcer value with profoundly retarded individuals. J Appl Behav Anal. 1985 Fall;18(3):249–255. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1985.18-249. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Skinner B. F., Morse W. H. Fixed-interval reinforcement of running in a wheel. J Exp Anal Behav. 1958 Oct;1(4):371–379. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1958.1-371. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tepper J. S., Weiss B. Determinants of behavioral response with ozone exposure. J Appl Physiol (1985) 1986 Mar;60(3):868–875. doi: 10.1152/jappl.1986.60.3.868. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. White J. M. Schedule-induced wheel-running: effects of exposure to the schedule. Physiol Behav. 1985 Jan;34(1):119–122. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(85)90088-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Wollnik F., Turek F. W. Estrous correlated modulations of circadian and ultradian wheel-running activity rhythms in LEW/Ztm rats. Physiol Behav. 1988;43(3):389–396. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(88)90204-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES