Figure 2.
Rats pick up the basic task structure in the very first training session. (A) Cumulative numbers of operant responses in 1-min bins (time intervals) for pokes into the left (blue), right (red), and center (reward, yellow) port for one example animal on the first day of training. (B) Cumulative responses into the center port within 2 s after left (blue) or right pokes (red) for the same animal. (C) Cumulative numbers of reinforcers (in bins of 10 min) for all six rats across the first three sessions (separated by vertical dotted lines). The color code key for panels CDEF is given at the bottom of the figure. (D) The number of reinforcers obtained per 10-min bin over the first three days, normalized to the maximum number of reinforcers obtained in any bin by a given rat. For five out of six rats, the maximum number was obtained well before the end of the third session. (E) Relative response proportions P(RL) for the six rats over the first three days. (F) As in E, but after subtraction of programmed relative reinforcement proportions P(RfL) from P(RL) to highlight that all animals attained matching (horizontal line, zero difference) by the third day of training.