Effects of Different Volumes of Reward in a Free-Operant Procedure

Abstract

Three different volumes (.01, .4 and .7 ml.) of a 32% sucrose concentration were employed in a free-operant bar-press study. In acquisition performance was a decreasing function of volume while in extinction greater persistence of performance was obtained for the .4 and .7 groups than for the .01 group. The extinction results were contrasted with those obtained in discrete-trial experiments which had employed a comparable range of volumes and number of reinforcements but which reported that large volumes tended to decrease rather than increase resistance to extinction.