Cooperative responding in rats maintained by fixed- and variable-ratio schedules

Author(s)

de Carvalho, Lucas Couto ^{[1, 2]} ; dos Santos, Leticia ^{[1, 3]} ; Regaco, Alceu ^{[1, 3]} ; Barbosa, Thiago Braga ^{[1, 3]} ; da Silva, Rafael Fernando ^{[1, 3]} ; de Souza, Deisy das Gracas ^{[1, 3]} ; Sandaker, Ingunn ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Oslo Metropolitan Univ, Oslo - Norway

^[3] Inst Nacl Ciencia & Tecnol Comportamento Cognicao, Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR; v. 110, n. 1, p. 105-126, JUL 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of fixed-ratio (FR) and variable-ratio (VR) reinforcement schedules on patterns of cooperative responding in pairs of rats. Experiment 1 arranged FR 1, FR 10, and VR 10 schedules to establish cooperative responding (water delivery depended on the joint responding of two rats). Cooperative response rates and proportions were higher under intermittent schedules than under continuous reinforcement. The FR 10 schedule generated a break-and-run pattern, whereas the VR 10 schedule generated a relatively high and constant rate pattern. Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of parametric manipulations of FR and VR schedules on cooperative responding. Rates and proportions of cooperative responding generally increased between ratio sizes of 1 and 5 but showed no consistent trend as the ratio increased from 5 to 10. Experiment 3 contrasted cooperative responding between an FR6 schedule and a yoked control schedule. Coordinated behavior occurred at a higher rate under the former schedule. The present study showed that external consequences and the schedules under which the delivery of these consequences are based, select patterns of coordinated behavior. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/17067-9 - Cooperative responding in rats under fixed and variable ratio reinforcement schedules
• Grantee: Alceu Regaço dos Santos
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• FAPESP's process: 08/57705-8 - Institute for the Study of Behavior, Cognition and Teaching
• Grantee: Deisy das Graças de Souza
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/17069-1 - Cooperative responding in rats under fixed and variable ratio reinforcement schedules
• Grantee: Letícia dos Santos
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• FAPESP's process: 14/50909-8 - INCT 2014: Behavior, Cognition and Teaching (INCT-ECCE): relational learning and symbolic functioning
• Grantee: Deisy das Graças de Souza
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants