Differential characteristics of conditioned eyelid responses established by reflex and voluntary reinforcement.

Abstract

Comparison was made of the functional characteristics of 2 types of conditioned eyelid responses established under comparable exptl. conditions (1) with reinforcement by an instructed voluntary wink, and (2) with reinforcement by the corneal reflex elicited by an air-puff. The responses were recorded photographically with a pendulum camera. The 2 types of conditioned responses showed marked differences in their descriptive characteristics, their modification during training, and in the effect of alterations in exptl. conditions and procedure. Although the voluntary and the reflex winks used for reinforcement are identical movements, the conditioned response developed with one is entirely different from that developed with the other. A most important variable in determining the nature and strength of voluntary-reinforced conditioned responses is the degree and efficiency of the subject''s set to discriminate between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, as revealed objectively by his reaction time to the unconditioned stimulus.