Thrailkill Eric A, Bouton Mark E
Department of Psychological Science.
J Exp Psychol Anim Learn Cogn. 2017 Jan;43(1):88-95. doi: 10.1037/xan0000119.
Operant behavior often takes place in a sequence, or chain, of linked responses that lead to a reinforcer. We have recently studied rats performing a discriminated heterogeneous behavior chain that involves the presentation of a discriminative stimulus (e.g., a panel light) to set the occasion for a procurement behavior (e.g., a lever press) that leads to a second stimulus (e.g., a second panel light) that indicates that a consumption response (e.g., a chain pull) will be reinforced. The present study assessed the role played by a representation of the reinforcer in controlling the performance of the responses in this chain. After acquisition of the chain, rats received a reinforcer devaluation treatment in the form of repeated paired, or unpaired, presentations of the food-pellet outcome and lithium-chloride illness. Once paired rats came to reject the pellets, half the animals in each group were tested on procurement, and the other half were tested on consumption. Neither response was affected by the outcome devaluation treatment, although entries into the food cup were suppressed. Combined with other results, the findings suggest that the "goal" for goal-directed procurement responding in a discriminated heterogeneous chain may be the consumption response rather than the primary reinforcer. (PsycINFO Database Record
操作性行为通常以一系列或一连串相互关联的反应形式出现，这些反应会导向一个强化物。我们最近研究了大鼠执行一种有辨别力的异质行为链，该行为链涉及呈现一个辨别性刺激（例如，面板灯）以引发一种获取行为（例如，按压杠杆），这种行为会导致第二个刺激（例如，第二个面板灯），该刺激表明一种消费反应（例如，拉链条）将得到强化。本研究评估了强化物的表征在控制该行为链中反应表现所起的作用。在习得该行为链后，大鼠接受了强化物贬值处理，形式为重复配对或非配对呈现食物颗粒结果和氯化锂诱发的疾病。一旦配对的大鼠开始拒绝颗粒，每组中的一半动物接受获取测试，另一半接受消费测试。尽管进入食杯的行为受到了抑制，但两种反应均未受到结果贬值处理的影响。结合其他结果，这些发现表明，在有辨别力的异质行为链中，目标导向的获取反应的“目标”可能是消费反应而非初级强化物。（PsycINFO数据库记录）
