Time allocation with concurrent asymmetrical responses
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Richard Alexander Bauman (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Richard L. Shull
Abstract: The purpose of the present experiment was to examine the effects of concurrent VI-VT response requirements on time allocation. Using a changeover- key procedure pigeons were trained to peck for food on a VI schedule of grain reinforcement in each component of a concurrent schedule. For two birds main-key responses produced 0.50 of the programmed reinforcers in each concurrent component, either red or amber, while for the remaining two birds 0.70 of the reinforcers were delivered in one component and 0.30 in the other. The schedule corresponding to the equal distribution of reinforcers was cone VI 1.5-min VI 1.5-min while cone VI 1.07-min VI 2.28-min was the schedule in effect when 0.70 of the reinforcers were delivered in the red-key component and cone VI 2.28-min VI 1.07-min was the schedule in effect when 0.30 of the reinforcers were delivered in the red-key component. Following a baseline determination in which both concurrent schedules were VI the schedule in the red-key component was then changed to a VT schedule in which reinforcers ware delivered independently of the bird's behavior. Because responding persisted in the 7T component the main key was made dark and inoperative and a houselight illuminated the chamber. R-4's continued main-key pecking in the VT component necessitated turning off the houselight. For all birds exposed to the VT component illuminated by the houselight, the proportion of time allocated to the VT component closely approximated the corresponding proportion of VT reinforcers. These subjects included both birds who were exposed to the conc VT 1.5-min VI 1.5-min schedule and one bird who was exposed to the conc VT 1.07-min VI 2.28-min and conc VT 2.28-min VI 1.07- min schedules.
Time allocation with concurrent asymmetrical responses
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Created on 1/1/1972
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 1972
- Subjects
- Reinforcement (Psychology)
- Wild birds as laboratory animals