Abstract
Observing procedures have differed qualitatively regarding the spatial arrangement of the food and the observing operanda within the experimental chamber. The effects of varying the distance between the operanda, however, remain unknown. The present study explored the effects of increasing the distance between the food and the observing lever using two stimulus durations in rats as subjects. A chamber containing two levers was used and presses on one lever were reinforced on a mixed random-interval 30 s extinction schedule with 60 s components alternating randomly. Each press on the second lever produced the component-correlated stimuli. Using a factorial design, combinations of 3, 9, or 18 cm distance between the levers with stimuli durations of 0.5 and 5 s were explored. Observing rate decreased as a function of both, increasing travel distance and shortening stimulus duration. As with concurrent schedules of food reinforcement, as travel distance increased changeover rate decreased and the duration of stays on each lever increased. Even when a travel distance was imposed, the rats moved to the observing lever but only when stimulus duration was 5 s.
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