Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to extend the blocking effect to the reinforcement of a response. A delayed reinforcement contingency was presented to subjects with or without a previously pretrained response available during the delay interval. The interpolated response had no scheduled effect on delivery of the reinforcer, but its availability reduced strengthening of the initial response, which completely extinguished for some subjects. The results were interpreted as support for blocking as a fundamental principle of behavior, and as evidence against the principle of reinforcement being stated solely in terms of temporal proximity between response and reinforcer.
Keywords: blocking, principle of reinforcement, delay of reinforcement, temporal contiguity, predictiveness, information, pigeons
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Baum W. M. The correlation-based law of effect. J Exp Anal Behav. 1973 Jul;20(1):137–153. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1973.20-137. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Brown P. L., Jenkins H. M. Auto-shaping of the pigeon's key-peck. J Exp Anal Behav. 1968 Jan;11(1):1–8. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1968.11-1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Herrnstein R. J. On the law of effect. J Exp Anal Behav. 1970 Mar;13(2):243–266. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1970.13-243. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- JENKINS H. M., HARRISON R. H. Effect of discrimination training on auditory generalization. J Exp Psychol. 1960 Apr;59:246–253. doi: 10.1037/h0041661. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Neuringer A. J. Delayed reinforcement versus reinforcement after a fixed interval. J Exp Anal Behav. 1969 May;12(3):375–383. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1969.12-375. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- REYNOLDS G. S. Attention in the pigeon. J Exp Anal Behav. 1961 Jul;4:203–208. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1961.4-203. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Williams B. A. The failure of stimulus control after presence-absence discrimination of click-rate. J Exp Anal Behav. 1973 Jul;20(1):23–27. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1973.20-23. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]