Abstract
Pigeons responded under a combination brief-stimulus schedule and choice procedure. Normally, a fixed-interval schedule was in effect, where completion randomly produced either a brief stimulus or food. Intermittently, this schedule was interrupted by a choice arrangement. Two choice keys were lit, either a short or a long time since a prior event (food or stimulus). One choice response produced food if the time had been short, and the alternate response produced food if the time had been long. Across conditions, the duration of the fixed-interval schedule was varied, the stimuli that comprised the brief-stimulus operation were changed, and the stimuli were presented as paired and nonpaired with food. The focus of the study was the control of both schedule performance and choice responding across conditions. The results showed that choice accuracy was correlated with the degree of fixed-interval curvature, the response pattern of a pause followed by a gradually accelerated rate. As fixed-interval schedule duration was increased, both the degree of fixed-interval curvature and choice accuracy decreased. The particular brief stimulus used affected schedule and choice performance, with a more salient stimulus producing a greater degree of curvature and higher accuracy. Pairing and nonpairing operations produced striking differences in performance with the less salient brief stimulus, but not with the more salient stimulus. The results suggest that brief-stimulus schedule performance may be conceptualized in the context of memory research.
Keywords: temporal control, memory, conditioned reinforcement, choice, second-order schedule, brief stimulus, pigeons
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Cohen S. L., Stubbs D. A. Discriminative properties of briefly presented stimuli. J Exp Anal Behav. 1976 Jan;25(1):15–25. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1976.25-15. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FRY W., KELLEHER R. T., COOK L. A mathematical index of performance on fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1960 Jul;3:193–199. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1960.3-193. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- GOLLUB L. R. THE RELATIONS AMONG MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE ON FIXED-INTERVAL SCHEDULES. J Exp Anal Behav. 1964 Sep;7:337–343. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1964.7-337. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hobson S. L. Discriminability of fixed-ratio schedules for pigeons: effects of absolute ratio size. J Exp Anal Behav. 1975 Jan;23(1):25–35. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1975.23-25. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kelleher R. T. Conditioned reinforcement in second-order schedules. J Exp Anal Behav. 1966 Sep;9(5):475–485. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1966.9-475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lattal K. A. Reinforcement contingencies as discriminative stimuli. J Exp Anal Behav. 1975 Mar;23(2):241–246. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1975.23-241. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Neuringer A. J., Chung S. H. Quasi-reinforcement: control of responding by a percentage-reinforcement schedule. J Exp Anal Behav. 1967 Jan;10(1):45–54. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1967.10-45. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pliskoff S. S., Goldiamond I. Some discriminative properties of fixed ratio performance in the pigeon. J Exp Anal Behav. 1966 Jan;9(1):1–9. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1966.9-1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rilling M. Number of responses as a stimulus in fixed interval and fixed ratio schedules. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1967 Feb;63(1):60–65. doi: 10.1037/h0024164. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Staddon J. E., Innis N. K. Reinforcement omission on fixed-interval schedules. J Exp Anal Behav. 1969 Sep;12(5):689–700. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1969.12-689. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Starr B. C., Staddon J. E. Temporal control of periodic schedules: signal properties of reinforcement and blackout. J Exp Anal Behav. 1974 Nov;22(3):535–545. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1974.22-535. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stubbs D. A., Cohen S. L. Second-order schedules: comparison of different procedures for scheduling paired and nonpaired brief stimuli. J Exp Anal Behav. 1972 Nov;18(3):403–413. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1972.18-403. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stubbs D. A. Second-order schedules and the problem of conditioned reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1971 Nov;16(3):289–313. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1971.16-289. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]