Instrumental Uncertainty as a Determinant of Behavior Under Interval Schedules of Reinforcement

نویسندگان

  • Alicia L. DeRusso
  • David Fan
  • Jay Gupta
  • Oksana Shelest
  • Rui M. Costa
  • Henry H. Yin
چکیده

Interval schedules of reinforcement are known to generate habitual behavior, the performance of which is less sensitive to revaluation of the earned reward and to alterations in the action-outcome contingency. Here we report results from experiments using different types of interval schedules of reinforcement in mice to assess the effect of uncertainty, in the time of reward availability, on habit formation. After limited training, lever pressing under fixed interval (FI, low interval uncertainty) or random interval schedules (RI, higher interval uncertainty) was sensitive to devaluation, but with more extended training, performance of animals trained under RI schedules became more habitual, i.e. no longer sensitive to devaluation, whereas performance of those trained under FI schedules remained goal-directed. When the press-reward contingency was reversed by omitting reward after pressing but presenting reward in the absence of pressing, lever pressing in mice previously trained under FI decreased more rapidly than that of mice trained under RI schedules. Further analysis revealed that action-reward contiguity is significantly reduced in lever pressing under RI schedules, whereas action-reward correlation is similar for the different schedules. Thus the extent of goal-directedness could vary as a function of uncertainty about the time of reward availability. We hypothesize that the reduced action-reward contiguity found in behavior generated under high uncertainty is responsible for habit formation.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Mechanisms of resurgence of an extinguished instrumental behavior.

Four experiments examined "resurgence" of an instrumental behavior after extinction. All experiments involved three phases in which rats were (1) trained to press one lever for food reward, (2) trained to press a second lever while the first leverpress was extinguished, and (3) tested under conditions in which neither leverpress was rewarded. In each experiment, the first leverpress recovered (...

متن کامل

Tolerance to effects of cocaine on behavior under a response-initiated fixed-interval schedule.

Tolerance to effects of cocaine can be modulated by schedules of reinforcement. With multiple ratio schedules, research has shown an inverse relationship between ratio requirement and amount of tolerance that resulted from daily administration of the drug. In contrast, tolerance to the effects of cocaine on behavior under multiple interval schedules generally has developed regardless of interva...

متن کامل

Appetitively motivated instrumental learning in SynGAP heterozygous knockout mice.

The synaptic Ras/Rap-GTPase-activating protein (SynGAP) regulates specific intracellular events following N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activation. Here, the impact of SynGAP heterozygous knockout (SG+/-) on NMDAR-dependent functions was assessed using different positive reinforcement schedules in instrumental conditioning. The knockout did not affect the temporal control of operant res...

متن کامل

Deprivation and Reinforcement in Applied Settings: a Preliminary Analysis Edward

First-grade children engaged in seatwork behaviors under reinforcement schedules established according to the Premack Principle and the Response Deprivation Hypothesis. Across two experiments, schedules were presented to the children in a counterbalanced fashion which fulfilled the conditions of one, both, or neither of the hypotheses. Duration of on-task math and coloring in Experiment 1 and o...

متن کامل

Reversibility of reinforcement between eating and running by schedule changes: A comparison of hypotheses and models

Rats increased eating that produced access to a running-wheel or increased running that produced access to food. depending on which response was potentially deprived. relative to baseline. by the scheduled ratio of responding. Under both schedules. instrumental responding significantly exceeded appropriate baselines of the noncontingent effects of the schedule. The results contradicted the hypo...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره 4  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2010