Abstract
In three experiments using fixed-interval schedules with a 500-msec delay of reinforcement, rats receiving a localized light signal during the delay leverpressed more slowly than rats trained without the signal. In Experiment 1 these groups showed no differences in temporal patterning of responding, but in the remaining two experiments the signaled rats showed better patterning than the unsignaled rats. In Experiments 2 and 3 rats receiving a diffuse tone signal during the delay instead of a light pressed more rather than less rapidly than the unsignaled group. Their patterning was better than that of the unsignaled rats in one of these experiments. Several explanations for both the attenuation and enhancing effects of signaling reward are discussed.
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This research was supported by a Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to S.N., who is now at the Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania. The research was conducted with a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan, to S.N. as a PD Fellow of the JSPS (H5-0808). S.N. also received a JSPS Postdoctral Fellowship for Research Abroad when the final manuscript was being written. We would like to thank H. Imada for many helpful discussions and encouragement, and P. Reed, R. M. Tarpy, and W. Timberlake for valuable comments on the manuscript. Portions of the data were presented at the 54th annual meeting of the Japanese Society for Animal Psychology, held at Hokkaido in August 1994.
—Accepted by previous editor, Vincent M. LoLordo
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Nakajima, S., Kitaguchi, K. Signaled reinforcement effects on fixed-interval performance of the rat. Animal Learning & Behavior 24, 183–192 (1996). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198966
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198966