Abstract
The experiment studied the effects of number of rewards and stimulus change upon spontaneous alternation. Rats were given 0, 4, 8, and 16 non-forced food-rewarded trials to a given alternative of a T maze, after which the non-rewarded stimulus alternative was changed to a checkerboard pattern for half of the Ss. Alternation decreased with increasing number of reinforced trials, 80, 90, 60, and 30%, respectively, for the four reward conditions; however, Ss that received a change in the non-rewarded alternative alternated at a high rate, 80, 100, 80, and 80%, respectively, for the four reward conditions. The results pose a problem for traditional drive-reduction and food-incentive interpretations of learning as well as for satiation theories of spontaneous alternation.
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