School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
J Exp Anal Behav. 2013 Jul;100(1):27-48. doi: 10.1002/jeab.33. Epub 2013 May 29.
Behavioral momentum theory asserts that preference and relative resistance to disruption depend on reinforcement rates and provide converging expressions of the conditioned value of discriminative stimuli. However, preference and resistance to disruption diverge when assessing preference during brief extinction probes. We expanded upon this opposing relation by arranging target stimuli signaling equal variable-interval schedules across components of a multiple schedule. We paired one target stimulus with a richer reinforced alternative and the other with a leaner alternative. Furthermore, we varied reinforcement rates for the paired alternatives to assess the effects of manipulating relative conditioned value on preference and resistance to disruption by presession feeding, intercomponent food, and extinction. We replicated the opposing relation between preference and resistance to disruption but varying reinforcement rates for the paired alternatives did not systematically affect preference or resistance to disruption beyond levels observed in our initial condition. Importantly, we found that only preference between the target stimuli was related to relative baseline response rates in the presence of those stimuli. These findings suggest that preference during extinction probes might reveal more about baseline response rates between concurrently available alternatives than relative conditioned value. Resistance to disruption, conversely, appears to better reflect conditioned value because it is less confounded with baseline response rates and is a function of all sources of reinforcement obtained in the presence of a stimulus context.
行为动力理论认为，偏好和对破坏的相对抵抗力取决于强化率，并为辨别刺激的条件价值提供了收敛的表达。然而，当评估短暂灭绝探测期间的偏好时，偏好和对破坏的抵抗力会出现分歧。我们通过在多个时间表的组成部分中安排信号表示相等的可变间隔时间表的目标刺激来扩展这种对立关系。我们将一个目标刺激与更丰富的强化替代物配对，将另一个目标刺激与较简单的替代物配对。此外，我们改变了配对替代物的强化率，以评估通过预会话喂养、组件间食物和灭绝来操纵相对条件价值对偏好和对破坏的抵抗力的影响。我们复制了偏好和对破坏的抵抗力之间的对立关系，但改变配对替代物的强化率并没有系统地影响偏好或对破坏的抵抗力，超出了我们初始条件下观察到的水平。重要的是，我们发现只有在存在这些刺激的情况下，目标刺激之间的偏好才与基线反应率相关。这些发现表明，灭绝探测期间的偏好可能更能揭示同时可用替代方案之间的基线反应率，而不是相对条件价值。相反，破坏的抵抗力似乎更好地反映了条件价值，因为它与基线反应率的混淆较少，并且是在刺激环境中获得的所有强化源的函数。
