Performance in instrumental conditioning as a joint function of time of deprivation and sucrose concentration.

Abstract

The experiment was primarily concerned with the joint effects of concentration of sucrose incentive and hours of food deprivation upon locomotor behavior in a straight alley. Three levels of concentration and two levels of drive were employed in a factorial design with six groups of male rats. Running speed and frequency of stops were recorded for 120 trials, i.e., 60 trials in Stage 1 and 60 trials in Stage 2. The major finding from Stage 1 was that asymptotic running speed measures showed a significant interaction between drive and incentive variables. Frequency of stops was generally inversely related to running speed. Start box and runway measures, and measures based upon either the first trial of each day or upon all trials of each day, were generally consistent. In Stage 2 half the Ss in each experimental group were allowed to consume large quantities of the same concentration sucrose solution as they had been receiving in the goal box. The solutions were provided after each day's testing and 90 min. before feeding. A significant drive (D) effect, obtained from analyses of the asymptotic running speeds at the end of the second stage, was interpreted as evidence that after a prolonged period of small-quantity feedings of sucrose solution Ss came to respond to the incentive in terms of its need-reducing potential as well as in terms of its palatability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)