title: Instrumental performance following a shift in primary motivation depends on incentive learning.
abstract: In 5 experiments the role of incentive learning in instrumental performance following a shift in primary motivation was examined. In Experiments 1 and 2 rats trained to perform an instrumental action reinforced by either pellets or maltodextrin when in a low-deprivation state were shifted to a high-deprivation state and tested in extinction. This shift in deprivation increased performance only if the animals had been exposed to the reinforcer in the high-deprivation state prior to instrumental training. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 examined the reverse shift training in a high-deprivation state and testing in a low-deprivation state, and found, similarly, that performance was only sensitive to this shift if animals were previously exposed to the reinforcer while in the low-deprivation state. These experiments support the conclusion that instrumental performance following revaluation of the reinforcer depends on a process of incentive learning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, England.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Balleine
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001245:Association Learning; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D004328:Drive; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005508:Food Deprivation; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D051381:Rats; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule