Summary
Two experiments were performed to examine the reinforcing effects of onset and termination of non-aversive illumination, made conterminous with lever contacting, as a function of illumination level. Within the 0.18–4.10 millilambert range studied, reinforcing properties of light onset were found to yield a concave-downward function while light termination was not found to alter response rate. Implications of the results for several current theories were discussed and a possible integrating concept, termed “sensory reinforcement” was proposed.
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A part of this paper is based on a thesis submitted by the third author to the Faculty of Graduate Study, University of Maine. The first two authors, however, assume full responsibility for the present treatment of the data.
The reported studies were supported in part by research grants from the Wilson Coe Research Fund, University of Maine.
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Barnes, G.W., Kish, G.B. & Wood, W.O. The effect of light intensity when onset or termination of illumination is used as reinforcing stimulus. Psychol Rec 9, 53–60 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393326
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393326