Amount of Food as a Factor in Activity Conditioning

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between the magnitude of classically conditioned activity and the amount of food used as the unconditioned stimulus. Groups of 6 male rats were given 13 days of training in which either 5/6, 2/6, or 0/6 of the daily food supply was paired with a flashing light. The remainder of S's food was presented an hour later. After training, activity in response to the light was assessed. The results indicated that magnitude of conditioned activity varied positively with amount of food. Analysis of variance for a randomized block design showed the difference among groups to be significant (p < .01, two-sided). The results were interpreted as supporting classical conditioning interpretations of positive reinforcement.

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