Behavioral momentum theory (BMT) has become a prominent method of studying the effects of reinforcement on operant behavior. BMT represents a departure from the Skinnerian tradition in that it identifies the strength of responding with its resistance to change. Like in many other operant research paradigms, however, responses are considered to be momentary phenomena and so little attention has been paid to non-rate dimensions of responding. The current study takes up the question of whether or not the degree of effort defining a discriminated operant class has any meaningful effect on its resistance to change. Using a force transducer, rats responded on a two-component multiple VI 60-s VI 60-s schedule where each component was correlated with a different force requirement. Resistance to change was tested through prefeeding and extinction. Proportional declines in response rate were equal across components during all disruption tests. Differentiated response classes remained intact throughout. The negative result suggests several future research directions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unt.edu/info:ark/67531/metadc955092 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Foss, Erica K. |
| Contributors | Pinkston, Jonathan W., Ala'i-Rosales, Shahla, Cihon, Traci M. |
| Publisher | University of North Texas |
| Source Sets | University of North Texas |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | v, 51 pages : illustrations, Text |
| Rights | Public, Foss, Erica K., Copyright, Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights Reserved. |
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