Differential conditionability: Reinforcing grooming in golden hamsters |
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| Authors: | Samuel G Charlton |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 87131, Albuquerque, New Mexico
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| Abstract: | Differential conditionability is the empirical finding that not all responses are equally amenable to the same conditioning paradigm. One phenomenon associated with the conditioning of grooming behavior (a difficult-to-condition response) is a decrease in its average duration when followed by food reinforcement. The first experiment investigated this phenomenon by reinforcing golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) with food for grooming or open rearing (a readily conditionable response) under three duration-dependent reinforcement schedules. The obtained data showed that different densities of food delivery had no differential effects on the average durations of grooming responses, indicating that the decreases were not the result of reinforcement-produced interruption. In the second experiment, golden hamsters were reinforced with food for grooming or for open rearing or received free food, under three interval reinforcement schedules. This experiment demonstrated that decreases in the average duration of grooming are independent of grooming behavior’s resistance to conditioning. Furthermore, although duration-dependent reinforcement schedules are largely ineffective in conditioning grooming behavior, interval schedules are shown to be quite effective in increasing rates of grooming. |
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