The effect of feeder duration on fixed-interval performance : context dependencies

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Jean Leighton Hatten (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Richard L. Shull

Abstract: The present set of experiments investigated the effect on fixed-interval performance of varying feeder duration both between and within sessions. In Exp. 1 only one feeder duration was presented within a session and feeder duration was varied over blocks of sessions. There was no effect of feeder duration on fixed-interval performance in Exp. 1. Phase 1 of Exp. 2 investigated the effect of randomly presenting one of two feeder durations at the termination of each fixed-interval, for several values of the shorter duration. The mean time to the first response was found to be directly related to the feeder duration which initiated the fixed-interval. Phase 2 of Exp. 2 explored the effects of separating successive fixed-intervals in time, over a range of time-out values. In phase 2 of Exp. 2 the mean time to the first response was found to decrease following both the long and short feeder durations as the value of the time-out was increased. Several mechanisms which depend on the intermixing in time of two or more feeder durations are discussed as possible explanations for the differential responding observed to follow long versus short feeder durations.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1974
Subjects
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Wild birds as laboratory animals

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