Four groups of rats were trained in a runway for 28 days on one of the following schedules: consistent reward (CRF), alternating partial reward (A), alternating partial reward followed by consistent reward (A-CRF), and an irregular partial reward schedule (I). Both Groups A and A-CRF learned to run faster on rewarded trials than on ronrewarded trials and Group A-CRF quickly learned to run rapidly on all trials after being shifted to consistent reward. Resistance to extinction was greatest for Groups A-CRF and I, with Groups A and CRF extinguishing much more rapidly. These results support a hypothesis which suggests that a sequence discrimination present at the outset of extinction will reduce resistance to extinction relative to schedules, with similar parameters, that do not result in or maintain a sequence discrimination.

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