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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1986 Nov;46(3):281–291. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1986.46-281

The effect of negative stimulus presentations on observing-response rates

Kay L Mueller, James A Dinsmoor
PMCID: PMC1348267  PMID: 16812463

Abstract

Theories of observing differ in predicting whether or not a signal for absence of reinforcement (S−) is capable of reinforcing observing responses. Experiments in which S− was first removed from and then restored to the procedure have yielded mixed results. The present experiments suggest that failure to control for the direct effect of presenting S− may have been responsible. Pigeons and operant procedures were used. Experiment 1 showed that presentations of S−, even when not contingent on observing, can raise the rate of an observing response that was reinforced only by presentations of a signal (S+) that accompanied a schedule of food delivery. Experiment 2 showed that this effect resulted from bursts of responding that followed offsets of S−. Experiment 3 showed that, when the presence of S− was held constant, lower rates occurred when S− was dependent on, rather than independent of, observing. These results support theories that characterize S− as incapable of reinforcing observing responses.

Keywords: observing, negative discriminative stimulus (S−), S− presentations, contingency of S−, information hypothesis, conditioned reinforcement, key peck, pigeons

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Selected References

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

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