Scaling relative incentive value in consummatory behavior

Surprising downshifts from more preferred (training incentive) to less preferred incentives (test incentive) are usually accompanied by emotional activation and suppression of conditioned behavior in rats. Two experiments were designed to determine whether consummatory behavior is similarly affected...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Papini, Mauricio Roberto, Pellegrini, Santiago
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2006
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/107566
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/107566
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Incentive contrast
Weber's law
Recognition relativity
Cued-recall relativity
Rats
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
Descripción
Sumario:Surprising downshifts from more preferred (training incentive) to less preferred incentives (test incentive) are usually accompanied by emotional activation and suppression of conditioned behavior in rats. Two experiments were designed to determine whether consummatory behavior is similarly affected by downshifts of equal proportions. Within limits, the degree of consummatory responding during incentive downshift was similar with equal ratios of test concentration to training concentration. Thus, 32% to 4% and 16% to 2% downshifts (1:8 test/training ratios) caused similar levels of consummatory behavior, despite differences in the absolute concentrations of the solutions involved in the downshift. An interpretation based on sensory contrast was discarded because of the long intervals between training and test solutions (40 min and 24 h in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively). It is suggested that Weber’s law regulates behavioral suppression after reward downshifts. A theoretical framework for the interpretation of these data is presented.