Stability and variability in extinction (original) (raw)
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Resurgence after different number of target-extinction or alternative-reinforcement sessions in rats
Learning and Motivation, 2020
Resurgence after different number of sessions (4, 12, or 36) was studied in two experiments using a four-phase procedure-that is, target-response extinction and alternative-response reinforcement occurred in separate phases of the procedure (cf. three-phase procedure). For the first experiment, three groups of rats were exposed to different number of target-extinction sessions while the number of target-and alternative-reinforcement sessions was held constant; whereas, for the second experiment, target-reinforcement and-extinction sessions remained the same between phases, while alternative-reinforcement sessions varied between groups. No differences in resurgence were observed as a result of different numbers of target-extinction sessions. However, when different numbers of alternative-reinforcement sessions were arranged, greater resurgence was observed after 36 sessions. As previously reported, the current findings suggest resurgence could be mitigated or promoted by subject's extinction or alternative-reinforcement history.
Response decrements produced by extinction and by response-independent reinforcement1
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1973
The effects of extinction and of response-independent (free) reinforcement in decreasing rates of key pecking by pigeons were compared in single schedule (Phase 1) and multiple (Phase 2) conditions. In both phases, response rates decreased more rapidly vith extinction than with free reinforcement conditions. Behavioral contrast was obtained from subjects trained in a multiple schedule involving extinction in Phase 2, whereas subjects trained in a multiple schedule involving free reinforcement showed a slight negative induction effect. WVhether subjects experienced extinction or free reinforcenment under single stimulus conditions did not affect subsequent performance in the discrimination situation of the second phase. Disinhibition testing was carried out at the end of both phases, but there was no evidence for disinhibitory effects under any condition.
Early-session increases in responding during extinction
Behavioural Processes, 2000
After training under a variable-interval 60-s schedule of reinforcement, four rats were exposed to 30-min extinction tests, which occurred either at the start or at the end of the session (each session being 50-min long). Response rate in extinction decreased when the extinction test occurred at the end of the session, but first increased and then decreased when the extinction test occurred at the start of the session. Consistent with other recent results, this finding suggests that some variable, other than reinforcement, contributes to early-session increases in responding.
Animal Learning & Behavior, 1993
Rats trained to push a joystick to the left or right for food reward were given two successive tests in which neither response was reinforced. Prior to Test I, subjects were either confined in the apparatus with a passive conspecific (Group None), or allowed to observe a conspecific demonstrator making 50 nonreinforced responses in the direction that had been rewarded during observer training (Group Same) or in the opposite direction (Group Different). In Test I, Group Same made fewer previously reinforced responses than did Group Different, which made fewer than Group None, and Groups Same and Different each made fewer previously nonreinforced responses than did Group None. In Test 2, Group Same made fewer previously reinforced responses than did Group None. These results indicate that observation of nonreinforced responding can reduce resistance to extinction (Test 1) and spontaneous recovery (Test 2) in rats. 221 This research was supported by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust. We are grateful to Paula Durlach for her suggestions regarding the design of the experiment, to Roger Bunce and Jim Chambers for help in the design and construction of the apparatus, and to Henry Plotkin, Phil Reed, and an anonymous reviewer for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.
Persistence during Extinction: Conventional and Reversed PREE under Multiple Schedules
Learning and Motivation, 2000
The partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) indicates that intermittent reinforcement during acquisition causes more persistent responding under subsequent extinction conditions compared to persistence following continuous reinforcement. This is the standard finding in between-groups comparisons. However, when reinforcer rates are manipulated in within-subjects designs, the opposite effect, a reversed PREE, is sometimes observed. Both effects have been extended to human performance, but methodological issues and the increased complexity of controlling mechanisms in human responding make that generalization uncertain. Using a discrete-trial multiple schedule procedure with student subjects, Experiment 1 manipulated within-subjects as well as between-groups reinforcer rates. Within-subjects analyses showed a reversed PREE, and between-groups comparisons showed a conventional PREE. Experiment 2 confirmed the between-groups PREE and further analyzed extinction performance on specific ''target'' component schedules as a function of reinforcer rate on the other ''context'' schedule. Context schedules were found to modulate performance on the target schedules as predicted from a conventional PREE. These results confirm the PREE as a fundamental outcome of intermittent reinforcement for between-group comparisons and indicate that the within-subjects reversed PREE may be a complex outcome of the same principle.
Massive extinction treatment attenuates the renewal effect
Learning and Motivation, 2003
Two experiments with rats as subjects investigated whether massive extinction can attenuate the renewal effect. Experiment 1 investigated whether moderate or massive extinction could prevent the return of conditioned responding following Pavlovian conditioning in Context A, extinction in Context B, and subsequent testing in Context C (i.e., ABC renewal). Experiment 2 examined whether massive extinction could prevent renewal following training in Context A, extinction in Context B, and testing in Context A (i.e., ABA renewal). Both experiments observed attenuated renewal following massive, but not moderate extinction. Results are discussed in terms of contemporary theories of extinction.
Resistance to extinction, generalization decrement, and conditioned reinforcement
Behavioural Processes, 2008
This study investigated generalization decrement during an extinction resistance-to-change test for pigeon key pecking using a two-component multiple schedule with equal variable-interval 3-min schedules and different reinforcer amounts (one component presented 2-s access to reinforcement and the other 8 s). After establishing baseline responding, subjects were assigned to one of the two extinction conditions: hopper stimuli (hopper and hopper light were activated but no food was available) or Control (inactive hopper and hopper light). Responding in the 8-s component was more resistant to extinction than responding in the 2-s component, the hopper stimuli group was more resistant to extinction compared to the Control group, and an interaction between amount of reinforcement, extinction condition, and session block was present. This finding supports generalization decrement as a factor that influences resistance to extinction. Hopper-time data (the amount of time subjects spent with their heads in the hopper) were compared to resistance-to-change data in an investigation of the role of conditioned reinforcement on resistance to change.
Attenuation of the Renewal Effect by Extinction in Multiple Contexts
Learning and Motivation, 1999
In two experiments, water-deprived rats were given a single pairing of a sucrose solution with LiCl in one context (Context 1). Some subjects then received three nonreinforced exposures to sucrose, that is, extinction, in Context 1. Other subjects received these three sucrose extinction trials in a different context (e.g., Context 2). A third group of subjects was included that received one extinction trial in each of three different contexts (Contexts 2, 3, and 4). Following this treatment, the rats were returned to Context 1 and were tested for their aversion to sucrose. Subjects given extinction trials only in one context other than the conditioning context (e.g., Context 2) yielded a greater aversion sucrose at test than subjects given extinction in Context 1, that is, a renewal effect occurred. Moreover, the groups given extinction in three different contexts exhibited attenuated renewal relative to subjects that received extinction trials only in Context 2. The discussion focuses on the possible mechanism underlying the renewal effect.