WITHIN‐SESSION RESPONSE PATTERNS ON CONJOINT VARIABLE‐INTERVAL VARIABLE‐TIME SCHEDULES

Jeffrey N Weatherly; Frances K McSweeney; Samantha Swindell

doi:10.1901/jeab.1996.66-205

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WITHIN‐SESSION RESPONSE PATTERNS ON CONJOINT VARIABLE‐INTERVAL VARIABLE‐TIME SCHEDULES

Journal article

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WITHIN‐SESSION RESPONSE PATTERNS ON CONJOINT VARIABLE‐INTERVAL VARIABLE‐TIME SCHEDULES

Jeffrey N Weatherly, Frances K McSweeney and Samantha Swindell

Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, Vol.66(2), pp.205-218

09/1996

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.1996.66-205

Handle:

https://hdl.handle.net/2376/114737

PMCID: PMC1284568

PMID: 16812823

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Abstract

within‐session patterns

lever press

variable‐interval schedule

variable‐time schedule

key peck

rats

pigeons

Operant responding often changes within sessions, even when factors such as rate of reinforcement remain constant. The present study was designed to determine whether within‐session response patterns are determined by the total number of reinforcers delivered during the session or only by the reinforcers earned by the operant response. Four rats pressed a lever and 3 pigeons pecked a key for food reinforcers delivered by a conjoint variable‐interval variable‐time schedule. The overall rate of reinforcement of the conjoint schedule varied across conditions from 15 to 480 reinforcers per hour. When fewer than 120 reinforcers were delivered per hour, the within‐session patterns of responding on conjoint schedules were similar to those previously observed when subjects received the same total number of reinforcers by responding on simple variable‐interval schedules. Response patterns were less similar to those observed on simple variable‐interval schedules when the overall rate of reinforcement exceeded 120 reinforcers per hour. These results suggest that response‐independent reinforcers can affect the within‐session pattern of responding on a response‐dependent schedule. The results are incompatible with a response‐based explanation of within‐session changes in responding (e.g., fatigue), but are consistent with both reinforcer‐based (e.g., satiation) and stimulus‐based (e.g., habituation) explanations.

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Title: WITHIN‐SESSION RESPONSE PATTERNS ON CONJOINT VARIABLE‐INTERVAL VARIABLE‐TIME SCHEDULES
Creators: Jeffrey N Weatherly
Frances K McSweeney
Samantha Swindell
Publication Details: Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, Vol.66(2), pp.205-218
Academic Unit: Arts and Sciences, College of; Psychology, Department of
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Oxford, UK
Number of pages: 14
Identifiers: 99900547753301842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article