Effect of regular noncontingent sensory changes on responding for sensory change.
Two experiments are reported in which responding for sensory change was studied in a situation in which regular sensory changes also occurred in the absence of responding. In Experiment 1 these regular changes depended on responses being withheld for a specified period but in Experiment 2 they occurred noncontingently. In both experiments responses produced immediate simultaneous light and sound changes. Finding from an earlier experiment in which a quite different procedure was used involving a choice between a single light change or a single sound change were confirmed. However in neither experiment was amount of responding related to the frequency of the regular, noncontingent changes. This finding was interpreted as evidence against the notion that sensory changes as such, are reinforcing. It is suggested instead that responding for sensory change is a form of behavior which in maintained because exerting control over the environment is intrinsically motivating.
D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D005260:Female; D009042:Motivation; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011930:Reaction Time; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012931:Social Environment; D014796:Visual Perception