Psychology Commons^™

Preference, Resistance To Change, And Qualitatively Different Reinforcers, Christopher Aaron Podlesnik

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Preference for one stimulus context over another and resistance to disruption within those contexts are a function of the conditions of reinforcement arranged within those contexts. According to behavioral momentum theory, these measures are converging expressions of the concept of response strength. Most studies have found that preference in concurrent chains and resistance to change are greater in contexts presenting higher rates or larger magnitudes of reinforcement. The present series of experiments attempted to extend behavioral momentum theory by examining whether differences in reinforcer type affect relative response strength with rats lever pressing for different types of food. In Experiment …