Abstract
In a study conducted at two institutions, four naive rats were housed in operant chambers for 100 days with water and food pellets freely available. The animals could also obtain food pellets by lever pressing on FR 1 schedules. All animals learned to lever press and obtained some food via the bar, varying from 2.1% to 13.5% of the total number of pellets consumed. Two animals began bar pressing immediately; the other two began to make significant numbers of responses on Days 30 and 48, respectively. The results are interpreted in terms of previous theories of contrafreeloading and neophobia, none of which appears adequate.
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Kopp, J., Bourland, G., Tarte, R.D. et al. Acquisition of Bar Pressing in Nondeprived Rats. Psychol Rec 26, 49–54 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394359
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394359