Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
J Exp Anal Behav. 2021 Mar;115(2):510-539. doi: 10.1002/jeab.674. Epub 2021 Feb 5.
Prior research proposed that temporal control over the pattern of operant wheel running on a fixed interval (FI) schedule of sucrose reinforcement is a function of automatic reinforcement generated by wheel running and the experimentally arranged sucrose reinforcement. Two experiments were conducted to assess this prediction. In the first experiment, rats ran for different durations (0, 30, 60, and 180 min) prior to a session of operant wheel running on a FI 120-s schedule. In the second experiment, the concentration of sucrose reinforcement on a FI 180-s schedule was varied across values of 0, 5, 15, and 25%. In Experiment 1, as the duration of pre-operant running increased, the postreinforcement pause before initiation of running lengthened while wheel revolutions in the latter part of the FI interval increased. In Experiment 2, wheel revolutions markedly increased then decreased to a plateau early in the FI interval. Neither manipulation increased temporal control of the pattern of wheel running. Instead, results indicate that operant wheel running is regulated by automatic reinforcement generated by wheel activity and an adjunctive pattern of running induced by the temporal presentation of sucrose. Furthermore, the findings question whether the sucrose contingency regulates wheel running as a reinforcing consequence.
先前的研究提出，在固定间隔（FI）的蔗糖强化程序中，对操作性轮跑模式的时间控制是由轮跑产生的自动强化和实验安排的蔗糖强化共同作用的结果。进行了两项实验来评估这一预测。在第一个实验中，老鼠在进行 FI 120 秒程序的操作性轮跑之前，先进行不同时长（0、30、60 和 180 分钟）的轮跑。在第二个实验中，FI 180 秒程序中的蔗糖强化浓度在 0、5、15 和 25%之间变化。在实验 1 中，随着预操作跑步时间的增加，在启动跑步之前的强化后暂停时间延长，而在 FI 间隔的后半部分，轮子的转数增加。在实验 2 中，轮子的转数在 FI 间隔的早期显著增加，然后减少到一个平台。这两种操作都没有增加轮跑模式的时间控制。相反，结果表明，操作性轮跑是由轮活动产生的自动强化和蔗糖的时间呈现引起的附加跑步模式共同调节的。此外，这些发现质疑了蔗糖的强化作用是否调节了轮跑。
