Bullock Christopher E, Hackenberg Timothy D
University of Florida.
J Exp Anal Behav. 2015 Mar;103(2):269-87. doi: 10.1002/jeab.117. Epub 2015 Jan 20.
Three experiments were conducted with pigeons to identify the stimulus functions of tokens in second-order token-reinforcement schedules. All experiments employed two-component multiple schedules with a token-reinforcement schedule in one component and a schedule with equivalent response requirements and/or reinforcer density in the other. In Experiment 1, response rates were lower under a token-reinforcement schedule than under a tandem schedule with the same response requirements, suggesting a discriminative role for the tokens. In Experiment 2, response rates varied systematically with signaling functions of the tokens in a series of conditions designed to explore other aspects of the temporal-correlative relations between tokens and food. In Experiment 3, response rates were reduced but not eliminated by presenting tokens independent of responding, yoked to their temporal occurrence in a preceding token component, suggesting both a reinforcing function and eliciting/evocative functions based on stimulus-food relations. Only when tokens were removed entirely was responding eliminated. On the whole, the results suggest that tokens, as stimuli temporally correlated with food, may serve multiple stimulus functions in token-reinforcement procedures--reinforcing, discriminative, or eliciting--depending on the precise arrangement of the contingencies in which they are embedded.
进行了三项用鸽子做的实验，以确定在二阶代币强化程序中代币的刺激功能。所有实验都采用了双成分多重程序，其中一个成分是代币强化程序，另一个成分是具有同等反应要求和/或强化物密度的程序。在实验1中，在代币强化程序下的反应率低于在具有相同反应要求的串联程序下的反应率，这表明代币具有辨别作用。在实验2中，在一系列旨在探索代币与食物之间时间关联关系其他方面的条件下，反应率随着代币的信号功能而系统地变化。在实验3中，通过呈现与反应无关的代币（这些代币与它们在前一个代币成分中的时间出现相关联），反应率降低了，但并未消除，这表明基于刺激-食物关系，代币既具有强化功能，也具有引发/唤起功能。只有当代币被完全移除时，反应才会消除。总体而言，结果表明，作为与食物在时间上相关联的刺激物，代币在代币强化程序中可能具有多种刺激功能——强化、辨别或引发——这取决于它们所嵌入的意外情况的精确安排。
