Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1975 Sep;24(2):173–181. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1975.24-173

Second-order schedules of token reinforcement: effects of varying the schedule of food presentation1

E F Malagodi, Frank M Webbe, Thomas R Waddell
PMCID: PMC1333396  PMID: 16811869

Abstract

In the initial link of a complex schedule, one discriminative stimulus was presented and lever pressing produced tokens on fixed-ratio schedules. In the terminal link, signalled by a second discriminative stimulus, deposits of the tokens produced food. With two rats, the terminal link was presented after each sixth component schedule of token reinforcement was completed. With the other two rats, the terminal link was presented following the first component schedule completed after a fixed interval. During the terminal link, each token deposit initially produced food. The schedule of food presentation was subsequently increased such that an increasing number of token deposits in the terminal link was required for each food presentation. Rates of lever pressing in the initial link were inversely related to the schedule of food presentation in the terminal link. These results are similar to those of experiments that have varied schedules of food presentation in chained schedules. Rates and patterns of responding controlled throughout the initial link were more similar to those ordinarily controlled by second-order brief-stimulus schedules than to those controlled by comparable extended chained schedules.

Keywords: second-order schedules, chained schedules, token reinforcement, reinforcement probability, lever press, rats

Full text

PDF
173

Selected References

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

  1. Byrd L. D., Marr M. J. Relations between patterns of responding and the presentation of stimuli under second-order schedules. J Exp Anal Behav. 1969 Sep;12(5):713–722. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1969.12-713. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Byrd L. D. Responding in the pigeon under chained schedules of food presentation: the repetition of a stimulus during alternate components. J Exp Anal Behav. 1971 Jul;16(1):31–38. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1971.16-31. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. FINDLEY J. D. An experimental outline for building and exploring multi-operant behavior repertoires. J Exp Anal Behav. 1962 Jan;5(Suppl):113–166. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1962.5-s113. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. FINDLEY J. D., BRADY J. V. FACILITATION OF LARGE RATIO PERFORMANCE BY USE OF CONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT. J Exp Anal Behav. 1965 Mar;8:125–129. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1965.8-125. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fantino E., Herrnstein R. J. Secondary reinforcement and number of primary reinforcements. J Exp Anal Behav. 1968 Jan;11(1):9–14. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1968.11-9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. HANSON H. M., WITOSLAWSKI J. J. Interaction between the components of a chained schedule. J Exp Anal Behav. 1959 Apr;2:171–177. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1959.2-171. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. HERRNSTEIN R. J. SECONDARY REINFORCEMENT AND RATE OF PRIMARY REINFORCEMENT. J Exp Anal Behav. 1964 Jan;7:27–36. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1964.7-27. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. KELLEHER R. T., GOLLUB L. R. A review of positive conditioned reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1962 Oct;5:543–597. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1962.5-s543. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kelleher R. T. Fixed-ratio schedules of conditioned reinforcement with chimpanzees. J Exp Anal Behav. 1958 Aug;1(3):281–289. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1958.1-281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Malagodi E. F. Acquistion of the token-reward habit in the rat. Psychol Rep. 1967 Jun;20(3 Suppl):1335–1342. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1967.20.3c.1335. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Malagodi E. F., Deweese J., Johnston J. M. Second-order schedules: a comparison of chained, brief-stimulus, and tandem procedures. J Exp Anal Behav. 1973 Nov;20(3):447–460. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1973.20-447. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. 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]
  13. 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]
  14. Thomas J. R. Chained and tandem fixed-interval schedule performance and frequency of primary reinforcement. Psychol Rep. 1967 Apr;20(2):471–480. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1967.20.2.471. [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