Scheduled-training of cats to a simple reaction time performance.
Cats were trained to release a lever at the onset of a sound, using a simple reaction time paradigm with different foreperiods. The training of the subjects was controlled by a PDP 8/L computer with a training schedule that avoided the problems of manual shaping except for the preliminary step, the lever press. This schedule successfully trained the cats in about 6 daily sessions up to the reaction time paradigm with a 3 sec criterion. In contrast, a programme designed to reduce the criterion value so as to induce the subjects to perform shorter latency movements failed because the cats learned to control it through an escape procedure.
D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D003201:Computers; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D008722:Methods; D009068:Movement; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D013997:Time Factors