Abstract
Two pigeons were employed in an experiment in which pecking at one key on a fixed-ratio schedule (Fr 30) earned food reinforcement followed by a timeout. Pecking at another key changed the color of the first key and provided more reinforcers on Fr 30 before the timeout. Pecking the second key was maintained when more reinforcers were available before the timeout but not when only one was given. Pecking the second key was also maintained better when the timeout was 1 min than when it was 3 s. Finally pecking the second key was maintained better when the first key changed color to signal the additional reinforcers than when it remained the same color with the additional reinforcers. It was concluded that the color change acted as a conditioned reinforcer which was based on a relationship between the key color and the number of reinforcers provided.
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This research was supported by Grant A0258 from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.
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Kendall, S.B. Conditioned Reinforcement Based On Multiple Primary Reinforcers. Psychol Rec 36, 215–223 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394942
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394942