Learned persistence at 11-12 days but not at 10-11 days in infant rats.
In 2 experiments using milk-suckling from an anesthetized dam as the reinforcer, evidence is presented that the transitional age in rat pups for learning of persistence as a result of appetitive partial reinforcement is between 11 and 12 days of age. In Experiment I, pups 12-13 days of age showed the partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) whereas 10-11-day olds did not. In Experiment II, pups trained at 11-12 days and tested at Day 13 did show a PREE at Day 13 but those trained at 10-11 days did not.
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule