Temporal control in rats: analysis of nonlocalized effects from short interfood intervals.
The present experiment analyzed temporal control of postreinforcement pause duration during within-session changes in the criterion for reinforcement (interfood interval, IFI). Analysis of interval-by-interval changes in the pause revealed localized and nonlocalized effects from short intervals that caused specific changes in performance. In Phase 1, rats were presented with five consecutive 15-s IFIs intercalated into a series of 60-s IFIs. The 15-s set decreased the pause in adjacent and more remote 60-s intervals. In Phase 2, two sets of 15-s intervals were intercalated. The spacing between the two sets varied so that 0, 5, 10, or 15 60-s IFIs separated the sets. The postreinforcement pause tracked all changes in the IFI duration, and the localized effect from a short set extended beyond the next interval to the next few 60-s IFIs. Effects from one set, however, did not combine with a second set: Changes in the pause after two sets were the same regardless of the spacing between sets.
Department of Psychology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708-0086, USA. jennifer@psych.duke.edu
J J
JJ
Higa
D
D
Pierson
D000818:Animals; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors