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ENHANCEMENT OF CONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT BY UNCERTAINTY

ENHANCEMENT OF CONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT BY UNCERTAINTY Pigeons were trained in three conditions. In the baseline condition, the birds responded on a fixed‐interval schedule with the response key white. When the interval was completed, the key turned either red or green for a delay interval that was terminated by a grain presentation dependent on no key pecks during the final 2 sec. In the uncertainty condition, no grain was presented at the end of the delay periods when the key was red. In the certainty condition, the white light appeared only on occasions when pecking would turn the key green and produce food. Otherwise, the key was illuminated red throughout the total time period. The highest response rate in white occurred in the uncertainty condition, the next highest in the certainty condition, and the lowest in baseline. The results suggest that uncertainty facilitated responding, although uncertainty is not a necessary condition for conditioned reinforcement. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Wiley

ENHANCEMENT OF CONDITIONED REINFORCEMENT BY UNCERTAINTY

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References (10)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
1975 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
ISSN
0022-5002
eISSN
1938-3711
DOI
10.1901/jeab.1975.24-311
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Pigeons were trained in three conditions. In the baseline condition, the birds responded on a fixed‐interval schedule with the response key white. When the interval was completed, the key turned either red or green for a delay interval that was terminated by a grain presentation dependent on no key pecks during the final 2 sec. In the uncertainty condition, no grain was presented at the end of the delay periods when the key was red. In the certainty condition, the white light appeared only on occasions when pecking would turn the key green and produce food. Otherwise, the key was illuminated red throughout the total time period. The highest response rate in white occurred in the uncertainty condition, the next highest in the certainty condition, and the lowest in baseline. The results suggest that uncertainty facilitated responding, although uncertainty is not a necessary condition for conditioned reinforcement.

Journal

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior – Wiley

Published: Nov 1, 1975

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