[Time factor in a behavioral act with delayed food reinforcement].

Experiments on unrestrained dogs showed that the character of somato-vegetative effector integral in a behavioural act with delayed alimentary reinforcement is determined by duration of the reinforcement delay from the conditioned stimulus. The moment of reinforcement, along with basic reinforcement properties are programmed by the central nervous system. Thus time serves as a reinforcement parameter. Changes in vegetative components, in the EEG of the midbrain reticular formation, hippocampus and cerebral cortex, resulting from abrupt prolongation of the delay (dissociation of time parameters in the forecasting apparatus) point to activation of mechanisms of emotional and orienting-investigating reactions.