The effect of varied reinforcement on acquisition and extinction speed

  1. Eduardo Polín 1
  2. Vicente Pérez 1
  1. 1 UNED - The National Distance Education University
Journal:
Psicothema

ISSN: 0214-9915

Year of publication: 2017

Volume: 29

Issue: 1

Pages: 83-90

Type: Article

DOI: 10.7334/PSICOTHEMA2016.153 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Psicothema

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

Background: The objective of the present study was to compare both the acquisition speed and the resistance to extinction of a simple discrimination in pigeons, depending on whether the reinforcing consequence included different conditioned reinforcer stimuli or always the same. Method: The study was conducted with four experimentally naive female pigeons, which were trained to respond to a “go-no go” procedure in four Skinner boxes with coupled touchscreens. The subjects were divided into two conditions with two subjects each. In the Experimental condition, the reinforcement of correct trials was performed by the presentation of one of four previously trained conditioned reinforcers followed by food, while in the Control condition the conditioned reinforcer stimulus was always the same. After acquiring the discrimination, all the subjects were exposed to the extinction phase. Results: The subjects of the Experimental condition needed about half of the sessions that the subjects of the Control condition needed to acquire the discrimination. In addition, subjects of the Experimental condition continued responding for more sessions than Control subjects in the extinction phase, although there were no differences in the resistance to extinction. Conclusions: Acquisition speed is greater when a variety of conditioned reinforcers is applied.

Bibliographic References

  • Bowman L. G., Piazza C. C., Fisher W. W., Hagopian L. P., & Kogan J. S. (1997). Assessment of preference for varied versus single reinforcers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30, 451-458.
  • Caggiula, A. R., Donny, E. C., White, A. R., Chaudhri, N., Booth, S., Gharib, M. A., …, Sved, A. F. (2002). Environmental stimuli promote the acquisition of nicotine self-administration in rats. Psychopharmacology, 163, 230-237.
  • Chaudhri, N., Caggiula, A. R., Donny, E. C., Booth, S., Gharib, M. A., Craven, L. A., …, Perkins, K. A. (2005). Sex differences in the contribution of nicotine and nonpharmacological stimuli to nicotine self-administration in rats. Psychopharmacology, 80, 258-266.
  • Cohen, L. R, Looney, T. A., Brady, J. H., & Aucella, A. F. (1976). Differential sample response schedules in the acquisition of conditional discriminations by pigeons. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 26, 301-314.
  • De Rose, J. C., McIlvane, W. J., Dube, W. V., Galpin, V. C., & Stoddard, L. T. (1988). Emergent simple discrimination established by indirect relation to differential consequences. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 50, 1-20.
  • Dinsmoor, J. A. (1950). A quantitative comparison of the discriminative and reinforcing functions of a stimulus. Journal of the Experimental Psychology, 40, 458-472.
  • Donny, E. C., Chaudhri, N., Caggiula A. R., Evans-Martin, F. F., Booth, S., Gharib, M. A., …, & Sved, A. F. (2003). Operant responding for a visual reinforcer in rats is enhanced by non-contingent nicotine: Implications for nicotine self-administration and reinforcement. Psychopharmacology, 169, 68-76.
  • Egel, A. L. (1980). The effects of constant vs. varied reinforcer presentation on responding by autistic children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 30, 455-463.
  • Egel, A. L. (1981). Reinforcer variation: Implications for motivating developmentally disabled children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 14, 345-350.
  • Fedorchak, P. M., & Bolles, R. C. (1987). Hunger enhances the expression of calorie-but not taste-mediated conditioned flavor preferences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 13, 73-79. Hursh, S. R. (1977). The conditioned reinforcement of repeated acquisition. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 27, 315-326.
  • Hyde, T. S. (1976). The effect of Pavlovian stimuli on the acquisition of a new response. Learning and Motivation, 7, 223-239.
  • Lamarre, J., & Holland, J. G. (1985). The functional independence of mands and tacts. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 43, 5-19.
  • Milo, J. S, Mace, F. C., & Nevin, J. A. (2010). The effects of constant versus varied reinforcers on preference and resistance to change. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 93, 385-394.
  • Pellón, R., Miguéns, M., Orgaz, C., Ortega, N., & Pérez, V. (2014). Psicología del Aprendizaje [Psychology of Learning]. Madrid: UNED.
  • Peterson, G. B, Wheeler, R. L., & Amstrong, G. D. (1978). Expectancies as mediators in the differential-reward conditional discrimination performance of pigeons. Animal Learning & Behavior, 6, 279-285.
  • Roca, A., Milo, J. S., & Lattal, K. A. (2011). Efectos del reforzamiento cualitativamente variado sobre la tasa de respuesta en ratas [Effects of qualitatively varied reinforcement on response rate in rats]. Acta Comportamentalia, 19, 3-18.
  • Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: Macmillan.
  • Steinman W. M. (1968a). Response rate and varied reinforcement: Reinforcers of similar strengths. Psychonomic Science, 10, 35.
  • Steinman W. M. (1968b). Response rate and varied reinforcement: Reinforcers of different strengths. Psychonomic Science, 10, 36.
  • White, K. G., Pipe, M. E.,& McLean, A. P. (1985). A note on the measurement of stimulus discriminability in conditional discriminations. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 23, 153-155.
  • Williams, B. A. (1994). Conditioned reinforcement: Experimental and theoretical issues. The Behavior Analyst, 17, 261-285.
  • Williams, B. A., & Dunn, R. (1991). Substitutability between conditioned and primary reinforcers in discrimination acquisition. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 55, 21-35.
Data source: Dialnet