Licking behavior of rats in relation to saccharin concentration and shifts in fixed-ratio reinforcement.

Abstract

IN 2 EXPERIMENTS, BEHAVIOR WITHIN BURSTS OF LICKS AND DISTRIBUTION OF BURSTS AND PAUSES DURING A SESSION OF LICKING WERE EXAMINED FOR SEVERAL FIXED RATIOS OF REINFORCEMENT, FOR 2 CONCENTRATIONS OF SACCHARIN, FOR CHANGES IN RATIO OF REINFORCEMENT, AND DURING EXTINCTION. LICKING RATES WITHIN BURSTS AND ACROSS EXPERIMENTAL SESSIONS DECREASED AS RATIO OF REINFORCEMENT INCREASED, AND INCREASED WITH CONCENTRATION OF SACCHARIN; POSITIVE CONTRAST APPEARED WITH DECREASES IN FIXED RATIO; AND RESISTANCE TO EXTINCTION INCREASED WITH THE SIZE OF THE FIXED RATIO. LICKING WITHIN A BURST SEEMS TO FOLLOW RULES ASSOCIATED WITH ELICITED RESPONDENT BEHAVIOR, WHILE THE PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR GENERATED BY SEQUENCES OF BURSTS AND PAUSES SEEMS TO FOLLOW RULES ASSOCIATED WITH EMITTED OPERANT BEHAVIOR. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)