The effects of compounding discriminative stimuli that control variable-interval limited-hold avoidance

Abstract

In the presence of either a visual or an auditory discriminative stimulus, but not in their absence, dogs were required to depress a panel to avoid electric shock on a variable-interval limited hold schedule. Once avoidance responding had stabilized, the dogs received presentations of the auditory-visual compound aswell as the elements in a test session. All dogs responded at a higher rate in the presence of the compound stimulus than in the presence of either element.

Some determinants of response summation

“…Using appetitive operant conditioning, summation has been found with rats (Hamm, Porter, & Oster, 1978;Strub & Barske, 1977;Weiss, 1977) and pigeons (Long & Allen, 1974;Meltzer & Hamm, 1976). Summation has also been reported with avoidance responding using dogs (LoLordo & Hart, 1972)and rats (Emurian & Weiss, 1972;Van Houten & Rudolph, 1971;Weiss, 1976Weiss, , 1977.…”

The Integration of Habits Maintained by Food and Water Reinforcement Through Stimulus Compounding

“…It has usually been reported after discrimination training in which (a) responding was maintained by the same reinforcer in each of two separately presented SDs, often a tone and a light, and (b) the simultaneous absence of these stimuli (T + L) was associated with extinction and came to control response cessation (Weiss, 1978). However, in spite of the numerous reports of additive summation, in all of these experiments responding was maintained in each of the SDs by one of two reinforcers, food (e.g., Miller & Ackley, 1970;Weiss, 1971) or shock avoidance (Emurian & Weiss, 1972;LoLordo & Hart, 1972).…”