A preliminary study of training conditions necessary for secondary reinforcement.

Abstract

One theory currently holds that a stimulus acquires secondary reinforcing power through its "close and consistent" correlation with a "reinforcing state of affairs." In a study with albino rats, exptl. training involved 100 trials in which a 1-sec. light was paired with a pellet of food. On each trial, the light followed the start of eating by about one second, and terminated at least eight seconds before the end of eating. A comparison of experimental and control groups on a subsequent test showed that the light failed to reinforce bar-pressing responses which produced it. This result indicates the need for a more precise specification of necessary and sufficient conditions for establishing a stimulus as a secondary reinforcer for operant responses.[long dash].