Abstract
Rats were rewarded concurrently, at equal frequencies, for pushes at the doors in front of two reinforcement magazines. The duration of the reinforcer given at one magazine was constant, while the reinforcer duration at the other magazine was changed every six sessions. For three rats the constant reinforcer was 3 sec, and for three other rats the constant reinforcer was 1 sec. For all these animals the duration of the alternative reinforcer was varied between 1 and 5 sec. Rate of response at the magazine that delivered the constant reinforcer duration was found to vary inversely with the duration of the reinforcer obtained at the alternative magazine. The matching of relative response rate to relative reinforcer duration was poor, and the results are attributed partly to the general rate-suppressing effects of long reinforcer durations.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
CATANIA, A. C. Concurrent performances: Reinforcement interaction and response independence. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1963a, 6, 253–264.
CATANIA, A. C. Concurrent performances: A baseline for the study of reinforcement magnitude. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1963b, 6, 299–300.
CATANIA, A. C. Concurrent performances: Inhibition of one response by reinforcement of another. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1969, 12, 731–744.
FINDLEY, J. Preference and switching under concurrent scheduling. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1958, 1, 123–144.
HERRNSTEIN, R. J. Relative and absolute strength of response as a function of frequency of reinforcement. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1961, 4, 267–272.
O’BRIEN, F. Sequential contrast effects with human subjects. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1968, 11, 537–542.
PLISKOFF, S.S., SHULL, R. L., & GOLLUB, R. L. The relation between response rates and reinforcement rates in a multiple schedule. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1968, 11, 271–284.
PREMACK, D. Reinforcement theory. In Nebraska symposium on motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965. Pp. 123–180.
RACHLIN, H., & BAUM, W. M. Response rate as a function of amount of reinforcement for a signaled concurrent response. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1969, 12, 11–16.
REYNOLDS, G. S. Behavioral contrast. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1961a, 4, 57–71.
REYNOLDS, G. S. An analysis of interactions in a multiple schedule. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1961b, 4, 107–17.
REYNOLDS, G. S. Relativity of response rate and reinforcement frequency in a multiple schedule. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1961c, 4, 179–184.
SHIMP, C. F. Optimal behavior in free-operant experiments. Psychological Review, 1969, 76, 97–112.
WILLIAMS, D. R. Classical conditioning and incentive motivation. In W. F. Prokasy (Ed.), Classical conditioning. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1965. Pp. 340–357.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Research supported by Grant MH 12115-03 to Dr. H. M. B. Hurwitz.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walker, S.F., Schnelle, J. & Hurwitz, H.M.B. Rates of concurrent responses and reinforcer duration. Psychon Sci 21, 173–175 (1970). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331870
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03331870