Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Education
Reinforced Behavioral Variability In The Valproate Rat Model Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Ann Galizio, Amy L. Odum
Reinforced Behavioral Variability In The Valproate Rat Model Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Ann Galizio, Amy L. Odum
Psychology Faculty Publications
Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to display restricted, repetitive behaviors and deficits in social interaction. Rats exposed to valproate (VPA) in utero have been shown to model symptoms of ASD. In previous research, VPA rats engaged in less social interaction and more repetitive responding than controls. The purpose of the present study was to further investigate behavioral variability in the VPA rat model of ASD by testing VPA and control rats in a reinforced-behavioral-variability operant task. In this procedure, rats emitted sequences of lever presses, some of which produced food. During baseline, food was delivered probabilistically, and …