16 albino rats were trained in a runway on an alternating partial reward schedule and in another runway on an irregular partial reward schedule. The rats learned to pattern their responses in the alternating setting, running faster on rewarded trials than on nonrewarded trials, but such patterning did not occur in the irregular setting. Extinction proved to be faster in the alternating setting than in the irregular setting replicating previous between-subject experiments.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmselA.Partial reinforcement effects on vigor and persistence: Advances in frustration theory derived from a variety of within-subject experiments. In SpenceK. W.SpenceJ. T. (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation. Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press, 1967. Pp. 1–65.
2.
CampbellP. E.KnouseS. B.WrotenJ. D.Resistance to extinction in the rat following regular and irregular schedules of partial reward. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1970, 72, 210–215.
3.
CapaldiE. J.A sequential hypothesis of instrumental learning. In SpenceK. W.SpenceJ. T. (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation. Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press, 1967. Pp. 67–156.
4.
RudyJ. W.HomzieK. J.Within-subjects partial reinforcement with rats: Sequence and discriminability of reinforcement events. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1970, 73, 465–469.
5.
SpearN. W.SpitznerJ. H.Extinction effects of percentage reinforcement and reinforcer magnitude within-S: The influence of discrimination task. Psychonomic Monograph Supplements, 1969, 3, 19–24.
6.
WagnerA. R.Effects of amount and percentage of reinforcement and number of acquisition trials on conditioning and extinction. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1961, 62, 234–242.
