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Experimental Analysis of Behavior

West Virginia University

Choice

Publication Year

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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Effects Of Oxycodone And Methylphenidate On Self-Control With Aversive Outcomes, Jeremy Saul Langford Jan 2023

Effects Of Oxycodone And Methylphenidate On Self-Control With Aversive Outcomes, Jeremy Saul Langford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In the context of choice, one is said to show self-control under numerous conditions in which consideration is given to the delayed outcomes of each option. This can be difficult: both reinforcing and aversive outcomes become less effective as they are increasingly delayed. Several socially significant issues arise from a failure of delayed, aversive outcomes to impact choice, especially when immediate, reinforcing outcomes are available. Identifying the conditions under which choice is sensitive to delayed outcomes is critical to shifting choices toward alternatives in which contact with delayed, aversive outcomes is minimized. Two experiments were conducted with the aim of …


A Monte Carlo Simulation Of Rat Choice Behavior With Interdependent Outcomes, Michelle A. Frankot Jan 2022

A Monte Carlo Simulation Of Rat Choice Behavior With Interdependent Outcomes, Michelle A. Frankot

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Preclinical behavioral neuroscience often uses choice paradigms to capture psychiatric symptoms. In particular, the subfield of operant research produces nested datasets with many discrete choices in a session. The standard analytic practice is to aggregate choice into a continuous variable and analyze using ANOVA or linear regression. However, choice data often have multiple interdependent outcomes of interest, violating an assumption of general linear models. The aim of the current study was to quantify the accuracy of linear mixed-effects regression (LMER) for analyzing data from a 4-choice operant task called the Rodent Gambling Task (RGT), which measures decision-making in the context …


Probability Discounting Of Lewis And Fischer 344 Rats: Strain Comparisons At Baseline And Following Acute Administration Of D-Amphetamine, Jenny E. Ozga Jan 2019

Probability Discounting Of Lewis And Fischer 344 Rats: Strain Comparisons At Baseline And Following Acute Administration Of D-Amphetamine, Jenny E. Ozga

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Risky choice can be defined as choice for a larger, uncertain reinforcer over a smaller, certain reinforcer when choosing the smaller alternative maximizes reinforcement. Risky choice is studied using various procedures in the animal laboratory; one such procedure is called probability discounting. There are many variables that contribute to risky decision-making, including biological and pharmacological determinants. The present study assessed both of these variables by evaluating dose-response effects of d-amphetamine on risky choice of Lewis (LEW) and Fischer 344 (F344) rats. The probability-discounting procedure included discrete-trials choices between one food pellet delivered 100% of the time and three food …


Effects Of Delay And Signals On Choice Between Delayed Food Alone And Immediate Food With Delayed Shock, Forrest James Toegel Jan 2018

Effects Of Delay And Signals On Choice Between Delayed Food Alone And Immediate Food With Delayed Shock, Forrest James Toegel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Much of the research in the area of self-control has examined choice between small immediate reinforcers and large delayed reinforcers, but many problems result from situations in which a single choice produces consequences of conflicting valence: Those in which the immediate outcome is reinforcing and the delayed outcome is aversive. Recent research has evaluated how preference for a large reinforcer which is followed by a delayed shock changes as a function of the delay to shock and how the intensity and duration of delayed shock affects the value of a large reinforcer. The present set of experiments investigated how the …