The present experiment tests the hypothesis that a secondary reinforcer associated with high effort would be preferred to the same secondary reinforcer with low effort. Preference was measured by (a) S's choice in a T-maze and (b) time spent in the presence of the secondary reinforcet. Each of 40 animals experienced both high and low effort conditions associated with either a vertical or a horizontal striped area. Half of the Ss experienced high effort with vertical and low effort with horizontal stripes. The other half experienced high effort with horizontal and low effort with vertical stripes. Results demonstrated that effort is effective in influencing the value of a secondary reinforcer.
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