Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1969 Nov;12(6):977–987. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1969.12-977

Effects of d-amphetamine on observing behavior in the squirrel monkey1

Fogle C Clark
PMCID: PMC1338708  PMID: 4982673

Abstract

Four squirrel monkeys were trained to press a lever, which produced stimuli indicating availability or non-availability of reinforcement for pushing a key. Food reinforcements were available for the key response at random intervals with an average rate of 1 per min. When food was available, a single lever response produced a red light behind the key. Reinforcement availabilities and red keylights remained until terminated by a reinforced key response. When reinforcement was not available, each lever response produced a 0.5-sec green light on the key. Except after lever responses, the key remained dark. Under this procedure, lever responses functioned as observing behavior in that they produced discriminative stimuli correlated with the availability or non-availability of reinforcement for key responses. The procedure generated a high rate of responding on the lever, short latencies of the key response after onset of red lights and few responses to the key in the absence of red lights. Intra-muscular d-amphetamine, in doses from 0.125 to 1.0 mg/kg, abolished both observing behavior and key responding for periods that increased as a function of dose. However, both observing and key rates were increased at the smallest dose in two subjects whose performances included responding to the key in the absence of red lights. Results are discussed in relation to previous findings regarding effects of amphetamines on operant behavior and on observing and monitoring performance.

Full text

PDF
977

Selected References

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

  1. CLARK F. C., HULL L. D. THE GENERATION OF RANDOM INTERVAL SCHEDULES. J Exp Anal Behav. 1965 Mar;8:131–133. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1965.8-131. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CLARK F. C., STEELE B. J. SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE INTERACTION OF CHLORPROMAZINE AND FREE OPERANT AVOIDANCE BURSTS. Psychopharmacologia. 1963 May 15;4:221–231. doi: 10.1007/BF02584092. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. COOK L., KELLEHER R. T. Drug effects on the behavior of animals. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1962 Jan 13;96:315–335. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1962.tb50125.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Clark F. C. Effects of chlorpromazine on behavior maintained by a multiple schedule of reinforcement. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1969 Apr;166(2):179–188. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Clark F. C., Steele B. J. Effects of D-amphetamine on performance under a multiple schedule in the rat. Psychopharmacologia. 1966;9(2):157–169. doi: 10.1007/BF00404720. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. DEWS P. B. Analysis of effects of psychopharmacological agents in behavioral terms. Fed Proc. 1958 Dec;17(4):1024–1030. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. De Lorge J. O., Hess J., Clark F. C. Observing behavior in the squirrel monkey in a situation analogous to human monitoring. Percept Mot Skills. 1967 Dec;25(3):745–767. doi: 10.2466/pms.1967.25.3.745. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. FARMER J. PROPERTIES OF BEHAVIOR UNDER RANDOM INTERVAL REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES. J Exp Anal Behav. 1963 Oct;6:607–616. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1963.6-607. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HOLLAND J. G. Human vigilance: the rate of observing an instrument is controlled by the schedule of signal detections. Science. 1958 Jul 11;128(3315):61–67. doi: 10.1126/science.128.3315.61. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. KELLEHER R. T., MORSE W. H. ESCAPE BEHAVIOR AND PUNISHED BEHAVIOR. Fed Proc. 1964 Jul-Aug;23:808–817. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kelleher R. T., Morse W. H. Determinants of the specificity of behavioral effects of drugs. Ergeb Physiol. 1968;60:1–56. doi: 10.1007/BFb0107250. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MACKWORTH J. F. THE EFFECT OF AMPHETAMINE ON THE DETECTABILITY OF SIGNALS IN A VIGILANCE TASK. Can J Psychol. 1965 Jun;19:104–110. doi: 10.1037/h0082897. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. McMillan D. E. Effects of d-amphetamine on performance under several parameters of multiple fixed-ratio, fixed-interval schedules. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1969 May;167(1):26–33. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. McMillan D. E. The effects of sympathomimetic amines on schedule-controlled behavior in the pigeon. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1968 Apr;160(2):315–325. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. PAYNE R. B., HAUTY G. T., MOORE E. W. Restoration of tracking proficiency as a function of amount and delay of analeptic medication. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1957 Apr;50(2):146–149. doi: 10.1037/h0046299. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. WYCKOFF L. B., Jr The role of observing responses in discrimination learning. Psychol Rev. 1952 Nov;59(6):431–442. doi: 10.1037/h0053932. [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