Abstract

ESCOBAR, Rogelio  and  BRUNER, Carlos A.. Spatiotemporal control and response generalization of lever pressing by rats. Acta comport. [online]. 2012, vol.20, n.1, pp. 15-28. ISSN 0188-8145.

The temporal distribution of nominally reinforced lever pressing by rats and the occurrence of unreinforced presses on seven adjacent levers were studied using two schedules of reinforcement: a fixed interval 60 s and a tandem differential reinforcement of other behavior 30 s fixed ratio 1. Three rats were exposed to each schedule of reinforcement in an experimental chamber containing seven adjoining levers. Only presses on the central (operative) lever produced food pellets. With the fixed-interval schedule, response rate on the operative lever and in those levers closest to the operative increased across the inter-reinforcement interval in a familiar "scallop". Under the tandem schedule, lever pressing on the operative and the inoperative levers increased during the last seconds of the inter-reinforcement interval. The relative spatial distribution of responses on the seven levers converged on the operative lever with the two schedules and this pattern did not differ from the beginning to the end of the interreinforcer interval. Both operative- and inoperative-lever pressing intertwined in repetitive patterns that were consistent within subjects but differed between subjects. These findings suggest that generalized responding follows a temporal distribution similar to that observed in responding that fulfill the reinforcement criterion.

Keywords : Response generalization; response induction; response location; temporal control; response variability; lever pressing; rats.

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