Influence of a small number of partial reinforcement training trials on resistance to extinction.
- 1 August 1962
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Experimental Psychology
- Vol. 64 (2), 166-171
- https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046371
Abstract
Two experiments were performed in which rats were trained to traverse a straight alley under either continuous, irregular, or single alternation of reward. In the initial experiment, which employed 27 training trials, the continuous group was found least resistant to extinction. The single alternation group was found to be more resistant than the irregular one. Previous experiments have shown that after a moderate number of training trials, alternation and irregular groups are about equally resistant to extinction, but after considerable training the alternation group is less resistant than the irregular one. In the second experiment, extinction training was given after just 18 training trials. Whereas the irregular and continuous groups did not differ in extinction, the single alternation group showed the typical partial reinforcement effect. The findings were discussed in connection with the Hull-Sheffield aftereffects hypothesis.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Acquisition and transfer in partial reinforcement.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1962