Superstitious Responding and Reinforcement Rate Under Concurrent Variable-Interval Extinction Schedules

Authors

Adam H. Doughty, West Virginia University
Timothy A. Shahan, Utah State UniversityFollow
Kennon A. Lattal, West Virginia University

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Behavioural Processes

Volume

53

Issue

3

Publisher

Elsevier

Publication Date

2001

First Page

163

Last Page

170

Abstract

To examine superstitious responding, four pigeons key pecked under multiple concurrent variable-interval 45 s variable-interval 90 s concurrent variable-interval 90 s variable-interval 180 s schedules in the absence of a changeover delay. The two variable-interval 90 s schedules then were replaced by extinction, and key-peck responding during extinction was examined as a function of the prevailing reinforcement rate. During the first several sessions, extinction-key responding was maintained closer to baseline levels in the presence of the higher reinforcement rate, and this effect dissipated or even reversed with continued exposure to extinction. Although extinction-key responding generally decreased to near-zero levels after several sessions, in a few instances, it continued for 30 and 45 sessions. These results demonstrate how concurrent variable-interval extinction schedules can be used to investigate what often has been labeled superstitious responding.

Comments

Originally published by Elsevier. Publisher's PDF and HTML fulltext available through remote link.
Note: Timothy Shahan was affiliated with West Virginia University at time of publication.

Recommended Citation

Doughty, A. H., Shahan, T. A., & Lattal, K. A. (2001). Superstitious responding and reinforcement rate under concurrent variable-interval extinction schedules. Behavioural Processes, 53,163-170.