title: Schedules of reinforcement as regulators of dispersion patterns.
abstract: An eight-rat eight-station operant conditioning arena was used to study the spatial structure and temporal stability of foraging dispersion patterns. Food was obtained by bar pressing as the population was exposed to an ascending series of the fixed and variable aspects of ratio and interval schedules of reinforcement. Dispersion patterns, defined by the number of rats simultaneously foraging at each of the eight stations, and the temporal changes in these patterns, were the dependent variables. Both variables exhibited a unique relationship to each schedule type and value. The absence of such relationships when either food supply or response costs were examined suggests that these factors were not the determinants of spatio-temporal structure. An account is provided of how schedules may interact with behavioral foraging chains to explain dispersion patterns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lakehead University Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1 Canada.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Confederation College Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7C 4W1 Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, NGA 5B8 Canada.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ward