McSweeney, F. K., & Murphy, E. S. (2000).
Criticisms of the satiety hypothesis as an explanation for within-session decreases in responding.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
74, 347-361.
The authors of four papers recently reported that satiation
provides a better explanation than habituation for within-session
decreases in conditioned responding. Several arguments question
this conclusion. First, the contribution of habituation to
within- session changes in responding seems clearly established.
Information that is consistent with habituation, but that is
difficult to reconcile with satiation, is not adequately
addressed. Second, the limited evidence offered in support of
satiation is ambiguous because the results are just as compatible
with habituation as with other satiety variables. Finally, the
term satiation is used in an intuitive way that is
sometimes contradicted by research about the termination of
ingestion. Use of the technical term satiation in a way
that differs from its conventional usage will only isolate
operant psychology from other areas of psychological research.
Key words: within-session changes in response rates, satiation,
habituation, arousal, sensitization