Effects of Quality and Quantity of Reinforcement Upon Response Rate in Acquisition and Extinction

Abstract

This experiment investigated the effects of quality and quantity of reinforcement upon a lever-pressing response, within the context of repeated acquisition and extinction sessions. Eighteen Sprague-Dawley albino rats were subjected to a 2-by-3 experimental design which incorporated two levels of quality of reinforcement (8% and 32% sucrose pellets) and three levels of quantity of reinforcement (20, 40, or 80 pellets given in each acquisition session). Rate of responding during each acquisition session varied directly with sucrose content of the pellet, but was independent of number of reinforcements (pellets) received in each acquisition session. In extinction, total number of responses varied directly with both number of reinforcements and sucrose content of the pellet. Latency to the first lever-pressing response in both acquisition and extinction was found to be heterogeneous for all Ss and insensitive to variations in quantity and quality of reinforcement.