Abstract
In seven experiments, an effect of the intertriai interval (ITI) duration on barpressing by rats was studied. A stimulus signaled a 15-sec variable-interval trial. The first response after the interval elapsed turned the stimulus off and was rewarded with food. Trials were separated by long (about 300 sec) or short (about 10 sec) ITIs. A within-subjects design established that response rate on trials after long ITIs was lower than that after short ITIs (Experiments 1 and 3–7). The effect was not cumulative (the effect of one and five consecutive short ITIs was the same). Response rate after short and long ITIs was the same when a between-subjects design was used (Experiment 2). Response rate was higher after 160-sec ITIs than after 300-sec ITIs, suggesting that the ITI duration at which all longer ITIs are treated the same (i.e., the upper limit) is greater than 160 sec (Experiment 3). When food, the trial stimulus, a novel stimulus, or a familiar stimulus never paired with food, was presented 10 sec before the next trial during some of the long ITIs, response rate on the next trial was similar to that found after 10-sec ITIs (Experiments 4–6). This similarity suggested that these events could mark the start of the ITI. However, the familiar stimulus did so only when it reliably predicted that the next trial would occur after a short interval. The effect of ITI duration on responding was apparently attributable to response latency. Response latency was greater after long ITIs, but once responding began, it was similar after long and short ITIs (Experiment 7).
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This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant BNS 79-00839 and National Institute of Mental Health Grant 1 R01 MH383358-01. Mark Holder held a postgraduate fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada while he conducted the research and was supported by NSERC Grant A1221 during some of the preparation of the manuscript.
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Holder, M.D., Roberts, S. Effect of intertrial interval on variable-interval discrete-trial barpressing. Animal Learning & Behavior 16, 340–353 (1988). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209086
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209086