Differences in the effect of Pavlovian contingencies upon behavioral momentum using auditory versus visual stimuli.
We examined the role of Pavlovian and operant relations in behavioral momentum by arranging response-contingent alternative reinforcement in one component of a three-component multiple concurrent schedule with rats. This permitted the simultaneous arranging of different response-reinforcer (operant) and stimulus-reinforcer (Pavlovian) contingencies during three baseline conditions. Auditory or visual stimuli were used as discriminative stimuli within the multiple concurrent schedules. Resistance to change of a target response was assessed during a single session of extinction following each baseline condition. The rate of the target response during baseline varied inversely with the rate of response-contingent reinforcement derived from a concurrent source, regardless of whether the discriminative stimuli were auditory or visual. Resistance to change of the target response, however, did depend on the discriminative-stimulus modality. Resistance to change in the presence of visual stimuli was a positive function of the Pavlovian contingencies, whereas resistance to change was unrelated to either the operant or Pavlovian contingencies when the discriminative stimuli were auditory. Stimulus salience may be a factor in determining the differences in resistance to change across sensory modalities.
Mauro
B C
BC
University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Mace
F C
FC
D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D051381:Rats; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D014796:Visual Perception