Pinkston Jonathan W, McBee Lindsey N
University of North Texas, United States.
University of North Texas, United States.
Behav Processes. 2014 Mar;103:112-6. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2013.11.005. Epub 2013 Dec 4.
Fixed-ratio schedules are widely used in behavioral research. Although fixed-ratio schedules often conjure up relationships to work and effort, little is known about effort-related measures in these schedules. Early research had shown that force and effort of operant behavior vary systematically during the execution of ratio schedules, and the goal of the present study was to revisit early research on force dynamics in fixed-ratio schedules. Four rats earned sucrose by pressing an isometric force transducer. Presses produced sucrose after ten or twenty responses. In general, the force of responses increased then decreased systematically across the ratio. The possibility that decreases in force during ratio execution was due to a trade-off with the differential reinforcement of short inter-response times (IRT) was investigated in an additional condition where sucrose was made available according to a tandem fixed-ratio 19 inter-response (IRT)> t schedule. The tandem IRT requirement did not eliminate decreasing trends in force across the ratio; unexpectedly, the tandem requirement did eliminate increases in force early in the ratio, which may reflect sequence-level organization operating in the control of force dynamics.
固定比率时间表在行为研究中被广泛使用。尽管固定比率时间表常常让人联想到与工作和努力的关系，但对于这些时间表中与努力相关的测量却知之甚少。早期研究表明，操作性行为的力量和努力在比率时间表的执行过程中会系统地变化，本研究的目的是重新审视关于固定比率时间表中力动态的早期研究。四只大鼠通过按压一个等距力传感器来获取蔗糖。按压十次或二十次后会产生蔗糖。一般来说，反应的力量在整个比率过程中先增加然后系统地下降。在另一种条件下，即根据串联固定比率19反应间隔时间（IRT）>t时间表提供蔗糖，研究了比率执行过程中力量下降是否是由于与短反应间隔时间（IRT）的差异强化进行权衡的可能性。串联IRT要求并没有消除整个比率过程中力量下降的趋势；出乎意料的是，串联要求确实消除了比率早期力量的增加，这可能反映了在力动态控制中起作用的序列水平组织。
