Abstract
In Experiment 1, a group of rats were runway trained on each of two reward series for 32 days. The two series consisted of three runs, the first two of which were, respectively, rewarded and nonrewarded; the third run was rewarded in one series but nonrewarded in the other. A 40-min interval separated the two series; the first and second runs within the series were separated by a 10-min interval, whereas the second and third runs were separated by a 30-sec interval. The reward (and nonreward) events and temporal cues of the two series are designated R-NR/R-NN. A second group was similarly trained, with the exception that the 10-min interval separated the second and third runs (RN-R/RN-N). Both groups developed appropriate differential running on the third run of the two series, and the RN-R/RN-N animals ran appropriately (slowly) on the second run of both series. Appropriate Run 2 performance appeared in one half of the R-NR/R-NN animals (depending upon order of series presentation); the remaining half ran faster on Run 2 of the R-NR series than on the same run of the R-NN series, an effect currently termed interevent anticipation. A cue shift phase in which all within-series intervals were 30 sec showed that the temporal intervals were controlling performance before the shift. Experiment 2 showed that interevent anticipation appears when all within-series intervals are either 10 min or 30 sec from the beginning of training, suggesting that the elimination of interevent anticipation in Experiment 1 was due to the differential cuing of runs by the temporal intervals rather than the particular interval duration. The overall findings suggest that the similarity of Run 2 and Run 3 performance termed interevent anticipation may be due to a failure to discriminate the ordinal position of runs within a series.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bower, G. H. (1971). Adaptation-level coding of stimuli and serial position effects. In M. H. Appley (Ed.),Adaptation-level theory. New York: Academic Press.
Burns, R. A. (1976). Effects of sequences of sucrose reward magnitudes with short ITIs in rats.Animal Learning & Behavior,4, 473–479.
Burns, R. A., DeHart, P. J., &McRae, H. L. (1980). Random and fixed two-trial sequences of reward magnitudes.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,16, 291–294.
Burns, R. A., &Wiley, L. P. (1984). Interevent anticipation ofliquid and solid sucrose rewards.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,22, 571–573.
Burns, R. A., Wiley, L. P., &Stephens, J. (1986). Interevent anticipation with external cuing or runs and sucrose rewards.Psychological Record,36, 101–107.
Capaldi, E. J., &Molina, P. (1979). Element discriminability as a determinant of serial pattern learning.Animal Learning & Behavior,7, 318–322.
Capaldi, E. J., &Morris, M. D. (1974). Reward schedule effects in extinction: Intertriai interval, memory, and memory retrieval.Learning & Motivation,5, 473–483.
Capaldi, E. J., Nawrocki, T. M., Miller, D. J., &Verry, D. R. (1986). Grouping, chunking, memory, and learning.Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology,38B, 53–80.
Capaldi, E. J., Nawrocki, T. M., &Verry, D. R. (1983). The nature of anticipation: An inter- and intraevent process.Animal Learning & Behavior,11, 193–198.
Capaldi, E. J., &Verry, D. R. (1981). Serial order anticipation learning in rats: Memory for multiple hedonic events and their order.Animal Learning & Behavior,9, 441–453.
Capaldi, E. J., Verry, D. R., &Davidson, T. L. (1980). Memory. serial anticipation pattern learning, and transfer in rats.Animal Learning & Behavior,8, 575–585.
Capaldi, E. J., Verry, D. R., Nawrocki, T. M., &Miller, D. J. (1984). Serial learning, interitem associations, phrasing cues, interference, overshadowing, chunking, memory, and extinction.Animal Learning & Behavior,12, 7–20.
Couvillon, P. A., Brandon, S., Woodard, W. T., &Bitterman, M. E. (1980). Performance of pigeons in patterned sequences of rewarded and nonrewarded trials.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,6, 137–154.
Ebenholtz, S. M. (1972). Serial learning and dimensional organization. In G. H. Bower (Ed.),The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 5). New York: Academic Press.
Fountain, S. B., Henne, D. R., &Hulse, S. H. (1984). Phrasing cues and hierarchical organization in serial pattern learning by rats.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,10, 30–45.
Hulse, S. H., &Dorsky, N. P. (1977). Structural complexity as a determinant of serial pattern learning.Learning & Motivation,8, 488–506.
Hulse, S. H., &Dorsky, N. P. (1979). Serial pattern learning by rats: Transfer of a formally defined stimulus relationship and the significance of nonreinforcement.Animal Learning & Behavior,7, 211–220.
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.Psychological Review,63, 81–97.
Self, R., &Gaffan, E. A. (1983). An analysis of serial pattern learning by rats.Animal Learning & Behavior,11, 10–18.
Straub, R. O., &Terrace, H. S. (1981). Generalization of serial learning in the pigeon.Animal Learning & Behavior,9, 454–468.
Wire, E. L., &King, D. D. (1973). Sequences of reward magnitude and runway performance.Animal Learning & Behavior,1, 175–178.
Yazawa, H., &Fuiita, O. (1984). Reinforcement pattern learning-Do rats remember all prior events?Animal Learning & Behavior,12, 383–390.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported by a grant to the first author from the Charles L. Mix Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Burns, R.A., Wiley, L.P. & Payne, T.L. Temporal cuing of runs in series of reward events reduces interevent anticipation. Animal Learning & Behavior 14, 190–196 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200055
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200055