RESPONSE STRENGTH AS A FUNCTION OF PRE- AND POST-REWARD DELAY AND PHYSICAL CONFINEMENT.
Abstract
THE EXPERIMENT WAS CONDUCTED TO APPRAISE THE UTILITY OF REINFORCEMENT AND CONTIGUITY EXPLICATIONS OF NONCHAINING DELAY OF REWARD LEARNING. OF PARTICULAR RELEVANCE WAS THE ROLE OF INCOMPATIBLE BEHAVIOR OCCURRING DURING THE DELAY INTERVALS. THE RELATIONSHIP OF 3 DELAY PERIODS (PREREWARD, NO DELAY, AND POSTREWARD), 2 GOAL-BOX FORMS (RESTRICTIVE AND UNRESTRICTIVE), AND TRIAL BLOCKS TO INITIAL RESPONSE SPEED AND RUNNING SPEED WAS ASSESSED. A MEASUREMENT WAS ALSO MADE OF MAGNITUDE OF ACTIVITY DURING PRE- AND POSTREWARD DELAYS IN THE LARGE GOAL SECTION. 60 MALE HOODED RATS WERE USED AS SS IN THE 6 EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT PREREWARD DELAY IS DECREMENTAL TO PERFORMANCE (P < .001) BUT POSTREWARD DELAY IS NOT (P > .05) THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN THE ACTIVITY LEVELS OF PRE- AND POSTREWARD DELAY SS.