This study investigated the effect of response effort on the percentage of short interresponse times under constant and varied effort conditions. After training on a lever-pressing task, rats were subjected to either a constant or a varied 10-g or 55-g response force (effort) requirement. The percentage of short interresponse times (under 1 sec.) was recorded in both acquisition and extinction phases of testing. The findings showed no effect of effort on the occurrence of short interresponse times during acquisition. However, there was a significant effort effect in extinction for the varied effort group, the higher force requirement resulting in a greater percentage of short interresponse times.
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