Tonkin Sarah S, Hawk Larry W
Department of Psychology, The State University of New York at Buffalo, 204 Park Hall, North Campus, Buffalo, NY, 14260-4110, USA.
Department of Psychology, The State University of New York at Buffalo, 204 Park Hall, North Campus, Buffalo, NY, 14260-4110, USA.
Behav Processes. 2020 Sep;178:104159. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2020.104159. Epub 2020 Jun 3.
Research suggests that repetitive reinforcers wane in their ability to maintain operant behavior in a manner consistent with habituation. Weaker reinforcers, including sensory stimuli common in human work, may be most impacted by repetition. The present research examined within-session operant responding patterns for visual stimuli in humans from two experiments assessing multiple characteristics of habituation. In Experiment 1, declines in reinforced responding were assessed and stimulus specificity was evaluated to test habituation's contribution to these declines. Seventy-three participants completed two visits, both including a reinforcement paradigm using pictures. With repetition, operant responding declined. The stimulus specificity manipulation did not enhance responding, suggesting that habituation did not contribute to response declines. Several methodological concerns may have contributed to the absence of a stimulus specificity effect. Experiment 2 assessed a separate habituation characteristic, rate of stimulation, to address these methodological concerns and further evaluate habituation. Twenty-eight participants completed the reinforcement paradigm over three visits. Decline in responding was partially supported, but the rate of stimulation did not alter declines. In sum, habituation's contribution to within-session declines for sensory reinforcers was not evident in either experiment. These results suggest that assessment of habituation of sensory reinforcers in humans may require parametric evaluation.
研究表明，重复性强化物维持操作性行为的能力会以与习惯化一致的方式减弱。较弱的强化物，包括人类工作中常见的感觉刺激，可能最容易受到重复的影响。本研究通过两项评估习惯化多种特征的实验，考察了人类对视觉刺激的会话内操作性反应模式。在实验1中，评估了强化反应的下降情况，并评估了刺激特异性，以测试习惯化对这些下降的作用。73名参与者完成了两次就诊，两次就诊均包括使用图片的强化范式。随着重复，操作性反应下降。刺激特异性操作并未增强反应，这表明习惯化并未导致反应下降。一些方法学问题可能导致了刺激特异性效应的缺失。实验2评估了一个单独的习惯化特征，即刺激速率，以解决这些方法学问题并进一步评估习惯化。28名参与者在三次就诊中完成了强化范式。反应下降得到了部分支持，但刺激速率并未改变下降情况。总之，在这两项实验中，习惯化对感觉强化物会话内下降的作用均不明显。这些结果表明，对人类感觉强化物习惯化的评估可能需要进行参数评估。
