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The Effects Of Repeated Resurgence Conditions On The Magnitude Of Resurgence, Ryan Nathaniel Redner
The Effects Of Repeated Resurgence Conditions On The Magnitude Of Resurgence, Ryan Nathaniel Redner
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Resurgence is defined as the recurrence of a previously reinforced behavior, under the condition that reinforcer delivery ceases for a more recently reinforced behavior. The current study investigated the effect of repeating the resurgence procedure six times with pigeons and two times with rats to determine the effect of repetitions on the magnitude of resurgence. Three phases were repeated: (a) Response 1 was reinforced while there were no programmed consequences for Response 2, (b) Response 2 was reinforced and Response 1 was extinguished, and finally (c) there were no programmed consequences for either response. The results indicated that the magnitude …
Mine Detection Rats: Effects Of Repeated Extinction On Detection Rates, Amanda M. Mahoney
Mine Detection Rats: Effects Of Repeated Extinction On Detection Rates, Amanda M. Mahoney
Dissertations
In recent years, giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) have been used successfully for detecting landmines in Mozambique. The rats are trained to detect mines through the use of operant conditioning techniques, in which the indicator response (stopping and digging) is rewarded (reinforced) with food when it occurs within one meter of a landmine and not rewarded when it occurs under other circumstances. Because handlers do not know the location of landmines when the rats are used operationally, and therefore cannot ascertain if an indication response is correct (near a mine) or incorrect, no rewards are delivered in …