Belke, T. W. (2000).
Varying wheel-running reinforcer duration within a session: Effect on the revolution–postreinforcement pause relation.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
73, 225-239.
Previous investigations of wheel-running reinforcement that
manipulated reinforcer duration across conditions showed a strong
relation between wheel-running rate and average postreinforcement
pause (PRP) duration. To determine if the basis of this relation
across conditions was a local effect of fatigue or satiation, the
correlation between revolutions run and the duration of the
immediately following PRP was investigated under conditions in
which reinforcer duration was either constant or variable within
a session. Seven male Wistar rats pressed a lever on a
fixed-interval 60-s reinforcement schedule with the opportunity
to run for 60 s as the reinforcing consequence. In the
constant-duration condition, the duration of the reinforcer was
always 60 s. In the variable-duration condition, the duration of
the reinforcer varied between 2 and 240 s with a mean of 60 s.
Mean correlations between revolutions run and the next PRP
duration for constant, variable, and constant conditions were
-.07, .20, and -.07, respectively. Although the positive
correlation in the variable-duration condition is consistent with
an effect of momentary fatigue or satiation, little of the
variance in PRP duration appears to be attributable to these
factors.
Key words: wheel-running reinforcement, fixed-interval schedule,
reinforcer duration, postreinforcement pause, lever press, rats