出版社：Universidade Federal do Parana̧, Departamento de Psicologia
摘要：This study examined the effects of introducing different delays of reinforcement on the rate of leverpressing by eight rats under variable interval and variable ratio schedules (VI and VR, respectively).Following baseline conditions under immediate reinforcement, unsignaled and non-resetting delays ofreinforcement were introduced upon each of these schedules. In different conditions, delays of 2 s, 5 sand 8 s were presented in both increasing and decreasing sequences. The results showed negativecorrelations between rate of responding and delay of reinforcement for most subjects and delays. Byanalyzing the frequency distribution of the delays actually obtained in each single reinforcer delivery,it was possible to verify a higher concentration of 0.5-s delays when a 2-s delay was programmed. Incontrast, actual delays concentrated around 5 s and 8 s when the programmed delays were 5 s and 8 s,respectively. Such differential effects generated by the delays of reinforcement on responding can beunderstood by analyzing how the delay affected the ongoing contingencies in each particular schedule.
