The ecological determinants of reinforcement in the rat
Physiology & BehaviorPublished 1 November 1972
George Collier, Edward Hirsch, Paul H. Hamlin
Citations396
SJR quartileQ2
SJR score0.78
SNIP0.84
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TL;DR
Any change in performance of the instrumental behavior ancillary to feeding which causes the values of these parameters to recover their optimum or privileged value, defined by their niche, will be strengthened.
Abstract
The intake of a freely feeding animal can be characterized by four parameters: frequency of meals, duration of meals, rate or intensity of eating, and choice of items eaten. The values of these parameters characterize species and the ecological niche they occupy. Constraints on any one of these parameters leads to compensatory changes in other parameters over the feeding cycle. Any change in performance of the instrumental behavior ancillary to feeding which causes the values of these parameters to recover their optimum or privileged value, defined by their niche, will be strengthened. These changes in performance reflect what is usually meant by motivation and the process of reinforcement.
Keywords
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