Psychology Commons^™

Incentive Contrast As A Relative Reward, Alexandra Schmidt

Honors Projects

This study examines the relationship between rapid relative reward comparisons and incentive contrast among rats (n=5). Animals were trained to lever-press in order to obtain access to a sucrose solution (concentration used: 1%, 10% or 20% in tap water). These rewards were placed outside an operant box which could be reached through a small hole displaying sessions with mixed comparisons (1v20%, 20v1%) or single sessions (1v1%, 10v10%, 20v20%) that rotated between two spouts containing the pre-randomized order of paired blocks; allowing for comparative analysis between two spouts/concentrations and blocks of responses. Throughout weekly testing each animal experienced a …