Abstract
Acquisition of a nose-poke operant response was investigated in rats. The baseline level of this response was high and acquisition with food reinforcement occurred rapidly, particularly when compared with a leverpress operant response. A variety of control procedures clearly indicated that this response was acquired due to the contingency between nose pokes and food reinforcement.The response was also sensitive to manipulations of delay of reinforcement and food-deprivation level. Acquisition was slowed with longer delays of reinforcement and with decreases in deprivation level. Therefore, the nose-poke response appears to be particularly useful for the study of the acquisition of operant responses.
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Schindler, C.W., Thorndike, E.B. & Goldberg, S.R. Acquisition of a nose-poke response in rats as an operant. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 31, 291–294 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334932
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334932