Abstract
Humans, monkeys, and rats were trained by a process of successive differentiations to press a bar for at least 1.00 sec but for no longer than 1.27 sec. Initially, animals were reinforced for all responses, then a minimum duration of response was gradually differentiated, below which no responses were reinforced. Finally, a maximum duration of response was differentiated above which no responses were reinforced. The duration of response in all three species approximated the minimum duration of response necessary for reinforcement. As the duration of response necessary for reinforcement increased, so did the mean duration of response in the three species. As the maximum allowable duration decreased, further compression of the mean occurred. The fact that the acquisition of the differentiation was approximately the same in all three species is a further indication of the control reinforcement exerts on operant responding.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- ANTONITIS J. J. Response variability in the white rat during conditioning, extinction, and reconditioning. J Exp Psychol. 1951 Oct;42(4):273–281. doi: 10.1037/h0060407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- HERRICK R. M. THE SUCCESSIVE DIFFERENTIATION OF A LEVER DISPLACEMENT RESPONSE. J Exp Anal Behav. 1964 May;7:211–215. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1964.7-211. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MCMILLAN D. E., COCHRAN W. M., Jr, PATTON R. A. An apparatus for programming and recording differentiated timing responses. J Exp Anal Behav. 1963 Jan;6:60–60. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1963.6-60. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- NOTTERMAN J. M. Force emission during bar pressing. J Exp Psychol. 1959 Nov;58:341–347. doi: 10.1037/h0042801. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]