Secondary reinforcement strength with continuous primary reinforcement: Fixed-ratio and continuous secondary reinforcement schedules

Abstract

Three groups of rats were trained on a leverpressing task in which all groups received continuous food reinforcement. Two of the groups were trained with an equal number of leverpresses, one with continuous secondary reinforcement and the other with secondary reinforcement on a fixed-ratio schedule. A third group was given additional training trials on a fixed ratio of secondary reinforcement. The subjects were tested using a two-lever choice technique without primary reinforcement. Pressing one lever produced a light-sound stimulus that had previously served as the secondary reinforcing stimulus, whereas pressing the other lever did not. The primary finding revealed no significant differences in secondary reinforcement strength between the continuous reinforcement and the fîxed-ratio-4 secondary reinforcement groups, supporting previous results.