Single-Alternation Patterning with Sucrose Reinforcement and Varied Intertrial Intervals in the Rat

Abstract

Four groups of rats were given single-alternation training in a runway using sucrose reward and then extinguished. Only subjects given training with a short interval (10 sec.) between rewarded and nonrewarded trials and a long interval (40 min.) between nonrewarded and rewarded trials learned patterned responding. This duplicated the results found in classical conditioning with a similar manipulation. The acquisition and extinction data led to the conclusion that intertrial interval cues can be made more important than aftereffects in producing patterning with sucrose reinforcement.