Preratio Pausing: Effects of an Alternative Reinforcer on Fixed and Variable‐ratio Responding

Derenne, Adam; Baron, Alan

doi:10.1901/jeab.2002.77-273

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Derenne and Baron () found similar patterns of drinking when sweetened water was concurrently available with a simple FR schedule of food reinforcement. As the saccharine concentration increased, pause durations also increased as rats spent more time drinking during the pause.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Effects of shifts in food reinforcement context on rats’ consumption of concurrently available water or sucrose solution

Galuska

Sawyer

2017

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of signaled transitions from relatively rich to lean conditions of food reinforcement on drinking concurrently available water or sucrose-sweetened water in rats. Past research demonstrated that these negative incentive shifts produce behavioral disruption in the form of extended pausing on fixed-ratio schedules. Four male Long-Evans rats operated on a two-component multiple fixed-ratio fixed-ratio schedule. In one manipulation, the ratio was held constant and the components arranged either a large six-pellet reinforcer (rich) or small one-pellet reinforcer (lean). In a second manipulation, the components both produced a one-pellet reinforcer but differed in terms of the ratio requirement, with the rich and lean conditions corresponding to relatively small and large ratios. In both manipulations, components were pseudorandomly presented to arrange four transitions signaled by retractable levers: lean-to-lean, lean-to-rich, rich-to-rich, and rich-to-lean (the negative incentive shift). During experimental conditions, a bottle with lickometer was inserted in the chamber, providing concurrent access either to tap water or a 10% sucrose solution. The negative incentive shift produced considerably more drinking than the other transitions in all rats during both manipulations. The level of drinking was not polydipsic; rather, it appears that the negative incentive shift enhanced the value of concurrently available reinforcers relative to food reinforcement.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Effects of shifts in food reinforcement context on rats’ consumption of concurrently available water or sucrose solution

Galuska

Sawyer

2017

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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“…Derenne and Baron (2002) addressed this notion experimentally. Rats' lever presses were reinforced with food under an FR schedule, and a drinking tube was continuously available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, activities such as grooming in animals, counting coins in humans, or other reinforcers become relatively more valuable and control alternative responding. Derenne and Baron (2002) addressed this notion experimentally. Rats' lever presses were reinforced with food under an FR schedule, and a drinking tube was continuously available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extended Pausing by Humans on Multiple Fixed-Ratio Schedules With Varied Reinforcer Magnitude and Response Requirements

Williams

Saunders

Perone

2011

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

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We conducted three experiments to reproduce and extend Perone and Courtney's (1992) study of pausing at the beginning of fixed-ratio schedules. In a multiple schedule with unequal amounts of food across two components, they found that pigeons paused longest in the component associated with the smaller amount of food (the lean component), but only when it was preceded by the rich component. In our studies, adults with mild intellectual disabilities responded on a touch-sensitive computer monitor to produce money. In Experiment 1, the multiple-schedule components differed in both response requirement and reinforcer magnitude (i.e., the rich component required fewer responses and produced more money than the lean component). Effects shown with pigeons were reproduced in all 7 participants. In Experiment 2, we removed the stimuli that signaled the two schedule components, and participants' extended pausing was eliminated. In Experiment 3, to assess sensitivity to reinforcer magnitude versus fixed-ratio size, we presented conditions with equal ratio sizes but disparate magnitudes and conditions with equal magnitudes but disparate ratio sizes. Sensitivity to these manipulations was idiosyncratic. The present experiments obtained schedule control in verbally competent human participants and, despite procedural differences, we reproduced findings with animal participants. We showed that pausing is jointly determined by past conditions of reinforcement and stimuli correlated with upcoming conditions.

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“…With operant behavior, for example, it has long been known that responding generated by fixed-ratio schedules occurs in bouts of high-rate responding separated by pauses-the so-called postreinforcement pause (Felton & Lyon, 1966). Changes in deprivation level (Ferster & Skinner, 1957, Figures 52 & 53;Sidman & Stebbins, 1954), size of the reinforcer (Morse, 1966, p. 80-81;Perone & Courtney, 1992;Powell, 1969), the availability of alternative reinforcers (Derenne & Baron, 2002), and even shock-punishment (Azrin, 1959) affect the duration of the between-bout pauses (or, equivalently, boutinitiation rate) but have little effect on response rate within bouts (i.e., on the so-called running rate). The present data (along with those reported by Blough, 1963) indicate that a similar pattern of differential sensitivity holds as well for performance under VI schedules.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bouts of Responding From Variable‐interval Reinforcement of Lever Pressing by Rats

Shull

Grimes

2003

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Four rats obtained food pellets by lever pressing. A variable-interval reinforcement schedule assigned reinforcers on average every 2 min during one block of 20 sessions and on average every 8 min during another block. Also, at each variable-interval duration, a block of sessions was conducted with a schedule that imposed a variable-ratio 4 response requirement after each variable interval (i.e., a tandem variable-time variable-ratio 4 schedule). The total rate of lever pressing increased as a function of the rate of reinforcement and as a result of imposing the variable-ratio requirement. Analysis of log survivor plots of interresponse times indicated that lever pressing occurred in bouts that were separated by pauses. Increasing the rate of reinforcement increased total response rate by increasing the rate of initiating bouts and, less reliably, by lengthening bouts. Imposing the variable-ratio component increased response rate mainly by lengthening bouts. This pattern of results is similar to that reported previously with key poking as the response. Also, response rates within bouts were relatively insensitive to either variable.

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Preratio Pausing: Effects of an Alternative Reinforcer on Fixed and Variable‐ratio Responding

Cited by 15 publications

References 20 publications

Effects of shifts in food reinforcement context on rats’ consumption of concurrently available water or sucrose solution

Effects of shifts in food reinforcement context on rats’ consumption of concurrently available water or sucrose solution

Extended Pausing by Humans on Multiple Fixed-Ratio Schedules With Varied Reinforcer Magnitude and Response Requirements

Bouts of Responding From Variable‐interval Reinforcement of Lever Pressing by Rats

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