Resistance to Extinction in the Goldfish as a Function of Frequency and Amount of Reward

Abstract

The results of early experiments on partial reinforcement (PRE) in the fish suggested that fish and rat might be differently affected by inconsistency of reward.1 More recent results suggest that fish and rat perform differently in such experiments because they are differently affected, not by inconsistency of reward, but by frequency and by amount of reward. A difference in the effect of frequency of reward is indicated by the fact that the fish shows the PRE more readily in experiments with equated reinforcements than in experiments with equated trials-when trials are equated, the partial Ss have fewer reinforcements-while the rat seems to show the PRE as readily in either kind of experiment.2 Evidence of a difference in the effect of amount of reward comes from experiments on the PRE as a function of amount of reward. While the resistance to ex-