Midsession shifts in reward probability and the control of behavioral variability
| Autor: | Kenneth J. Leising, W. David Stahlman |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
Cognitive Neuroscience
Perseveration Pecking order Experimental and Cognitive Psychology Choice Behavior 050105 experimental psychology Session (web analytics) Developmental psychology Behavioral variability Behavioral Neuroscience Reward medicine Animals 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences 050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology Control (linguistics) Reinforcement Columbidae Probability 05 social sciences Anticipation Response Variability medicine.symptom Psychology Reinforcement Psychology Cognitive psychology |
| Zdroj: | Learningbehavior. 44(3) |
| ISSN: | 1543-4508 |
| Popis: | Extensive research has shown that the variability of organismal behavior is great when contingent reinforcement is delayed, small, or improbable. This research has generally employed stable response-reinforcer relationships, and therefore is limited in its explanatory scope with respect to a dynamic environment. We conducted two experiments to investigate whether pigeons' conditioned pecking behavior shows anticipatory or perseverative patterns of behavioral variability when the reinforcement probability reliably changes within experimental sessions. In Experiment 1, three pigeons received alternating sessions in which the reinforcement probability (35% or 4.2%) was shifted at the midpoint of each session in the presence of the same discrete cue. Experiment 2 featured a similar design, but with the inclusion of a discrete visual cue that changed at the session midpoint, and thus unambiguously indicated reinforcement probability. Local reinforcement rates only reliably controlled response variability when a discrete visual cue was available. Without this, pigeons did not discriminate between trial types in the first halves of sessions, and showed evidence of perseveration of response variability following a within-session shift. Critically, this is the first experimental demonstration that the relationship between reinforcement probability and behavioral variability is moderated by another factor (i.e., trial position within a session). This study thus expands our understanding of the control of behavioral variability as a function of experiential factors. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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