Anticipatory cues can interfere with inhibitory operant behavior in the rat.
In four separate experiments a total of 24 male rats were trained for 30 min. daily in the same temporal order to inhibit their responses for at least 6 sec. before a response-contingent reward was delivered (DRL-6 sec.). The rats tested as the second group each day displayed about twice the number of errors (effect size = 40%) shown by rats tested in the first or third groups. These results suggest that anticipatory cues, acquired within two sessions, interfere with response inhibition during an appetitive task for a limited time (between a few minutes to about one hour). The results are consistent with the hypothesis that learned anticipation of reward may decrease inhibitory mechanisms by facilitating limbic lability.
Department of Psychology, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario.
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D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D003463:Cues; D008032:Limbic System / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012201:Reward