Aoyama, K., & McSweeney, F. K. (2001).
Habituation contributes to within-session changes in free wheel running.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior,
76, 289-302.
Three experiments tested the hypothesis that habituation
contributes to the regulation of wheel running. Rats ran in a
wheel for 30-min sessions. Experiment 1 demonstrated spontaneous
recovery. Rats ran more and the within-session decreases in
running were smaller after 2 days of wheel deprivation than after
1 day. Experiment 2 demonstrated dishabituation. Running rate
increased immediately after the termination of a brief extra
event (application of the brake or flashing of the houselight).
Experiment 3 demonstrated stimulus specificity. Rats completed
the second half of the session in either the same wheel as the
first half, or a different wheel. Second-half running was faster
in the latter case. Within-session patterns of running were well
described by equations that describe data from the habituation,
motivation, and operant literatures. These results suggest that
habituation contributes to the regulation of running. In fact,
habituation provides a better explanation for the termination of
wheel running than fatigue, the variable to which this
termination is usually attributed. Overall, the present findings
are consistent with the proposition that habituation and
sensitization contribute to the regulation of several forms of
motivated behavior.
Key words: within-session changes in responding, habituation,
spontaneous recovery, dishabituation, stimulus specificity, wheel
running, rats