Date of Award
4-1998
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Alan D. Poling
Second Advisor
Jack Michael
Third Advisor
Lisa Baker
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
Groups of eight experimentally-naive rats were exposed during 8-hr sessions to resetting delay procedures where responses on one (the reinforcement) lever produced water after a delay of 8, 16, 32, or 64 s. For rats in one condition, responses on a second (no consequences) lever had no programmed consequences. For rats in another condition, responses on a second (cancellation) lever during a delay initiated by a response on the reinforcement lever prevented delivery of the scheduled reinforcer; responses on the cancellation lever at other times had no programmed consequences. Under both conditions and at all delays, most subjects emitted more responses on the reinforcement lever than control rats that never received water emitted on either lever. At 8-s delays, both conditions engendered substantially more responding on the reinforcement lever than on the other lever, and performance closely resembled that of immediate-reinforcement controls. At delays of 16 and 32 s, however, there was clear differential responding on the two levers under the cancellation condition, but not under the other condition. When the delay was 64 s, differential responding on the two levers did not occur consistently under either condition.
Recommended Citation
Sutphin, Glen Ellis, "Response Acquisition with Delayed Reinforcement: A Comparison of Two-Lever Procedures" (1998). Masters Theses. 3605.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3605