Behavioral Determination of Critical Flicker Frequency in the Rat

Abstract

3 female albino rats were trained to press a lever for a food reinforcement on a fixed ratio schedule. When a stationary light source flickered at 100 cps, the rats could obtain reinforcement contingent upon 10 responses. When stimulus lights flashed at frequencies of 20, 50, 70, or 100 cps, the rats were not rewarded. These two conditions controlled the animals' behavior so as to require them to respond only when the light was steady (100 cps). Increased flicker frequency, between 2 and 100 cps, in the SΔ condition, provided a discriminative task. There was a linear decrease in efficiency of discrimination as the frequency of flicker increased. The reliability of the albino rat's behavior in physiologically and pharmacologically oriented cff investigations is discussed.