AN EXPERIMENTAL SPACE COMBINING INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL PERFORMANCES¹

Abstract

This report describes several primate environments in which two or more animals shared a common social area. Automatic programming was used to permit concurrent individual sessions. Some of the behavioral phenomena observed in these environments, including reinforcing properties of social interactions, are discussed.

Some effects of fixed-ratio size and reinforcement frequency on the accuracy of a conditional discrimination performance

“…The experiment was conducted in the multi-animal environment with separate entrance cubicIes described by Ferster, Hammer, & Randolph (1968). The animal was assigned to one of the small work cubicIes.…”

“…The contingencies were programmed with relays and cIocks, and the data were recorded on electromechanical counters and a cumulative recorder. The general performances demanded by the multi-animal environment were acquired under the procedures described by Ferster, Hammer, & Randolph (1968). The discrimination of the two fixed-ratio (FR) requirements was then developed in small steps.…”