THE A CCENTUA TION OF A RATE DIFFERENCE DURING EXTINCTION' L. R. GOLLUB2 and J. T.

URBAN
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

It is usually said that the performance in the presence of any one stimulus of a multiple schedule3 is essentially the same as the performance under that single schedule (Ferster & Skinner, 1957). This similarity is found under a wide range of schedule variations. Under mult FI FR, where each component is a member of a different class of schedules, a scallop usually appears in the interval component, and the typical high rates of responding in the ratio. However, some characteristics of the performance are affected by the other member of the multiple schedule. For example, the initial pause in the FI is affected by the number of preceding ratio segments, and is usually longer after several ratios have been completed. Interactions such as these have been shown by Dews (1956) and by Ferster and Skinner (1957). The performance may also be changed when the components are from the same class of schedules, as in mult VI VI. The continuous, moderately high rates of responding usually found under a single VI schedule also occur in each component. The type of interaction between these similar schedules may be between the rates rather than between the patterns of responding. In the present experiment, the interaction has been studied between components from the same class of schedules but with different values, mult VI 3 VI 9. The pigeons reinforced under this schedule were also run at several levels of body weight, to study the effect of deprivation on the schedule interaction. Finally, responding was extinguished under both stimulus conditions.
SUBJECTS AND PROCEDURE

The subjects were four adult male White Carneau pigeons. Two of these (S1 and S2) had been exposed to several VI schedules, while the other two (S3 and S4) had been run for only 20 sessions on VI 6 prior to this experiment. All birds were first reinforced on VI 6 for several sessions in a standard pigeon apparatus (Ferster & Skinner, 1957). The schedule was then changed to mult VI 3 VI 9, with the key illuminated by blue and orange lights according to the schedule which was programmed. The schedules changed after 15 minutes of VI 3 and 45 minutes of VI 9. The result was that, on an average, an equal number of reinforcements was programmed during each stimulus, and the mean inter-reinforcement time over the session was kept at 6 minutes. Two consecutive daily sessions were followed by a rest of 2 days for a total of 10 sessions. During this period, two different states of food deprivation were maintained: on one of each pair of days
'This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The authors thank Drs. B. F. Skinner and W. H. Morse for their aid and advice. 2Predoctoral Fellow of the National Science Foundation. 3In a multiple schedule, "reinforcement is programed by two or more schedules alternating..., each schedule being accompanied by an appropriate stimulus as long as the schedule is in force." (Ferster & Skinner p. 729). In mult Fl FR, for example, the response key is illuminated by light of one color when responding is reinforced according to Fl, and by a different color when FR is in force.

365

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L. R. GOLLUB and J. T. URBAN

the bird's body weight was high (about 90-95 per cent of free-feeding weight); on the other day, the body weight was low (about 75 per cent). Responding in the presence of each stimulus was then extinguished. During extinction the stimuli were alternated every 12.5 minutes, and the session lasted until responding in each stimulus fell to a low level. Extinction took between 10 and 17 hours.
RESULTS

"Typical" VI performances developed in each component of the multiple schedule-the rate of responding in the presence of each stimulus was approximately constant throughout a session, and the rate was somewhat higher in the presence of the VI 3 stimulus than in the presence of the VI 9 stimulus. Table 1 summarizes the rates under the several VI schedules. The mean rates of responding under the single VI 6 schedule and the VI 9 component of the multiple schedule were about the same, while the rate under VI 3 was somewhat higher. The range of the daily mean rates reflects, in part, the changes produced by body-

TABLE 1

Comparison of V16 with Mult VI3 V19

(Mean Rate and Range of Rates; Responses per Minute)

Subject
VI 3 VI 6

VI9

Mean Rate
S1

87

55
43 74

53
42

S2

56
109
51

S3
S4

76
43

45

Range of Rates

S1
S2 S3
S4

65-108

47-61

46-64

49-72
56-124

38-59 60-92 37-53

32-51
27-107

39-68

29-54

RATE DIFFERENCE DURING EXTINCTION

367

weight manipulations. The rates of responding in both components were higher at the lower body weight, but the rates in the two components were not affected differentially by degree of deprivation. Responding during extinction in the presence of each of the alternating colors occurred with the smoothly declining rate characteristic of extinction after short exposure to VI. Figure 1 shows the first 8 hours of the extinction session for one bird (S4). Responding in the presence of the stimulus previously correlated with VI 3 is shown in Record A, and with VI 9, in Record B. Note that the records have been aligned so that they begin at the same point in time, and that Record A has been displaced about 300 responses above Record B. Initially, the rate in the VI 3 stimulus was slightly higher than the rate in the VI 9 stimulus. The difference in the rates increased during the session as the rate in VI 9 declined. The rate in the VI 3 stimulus also declined, but only after a longer period of sustained responding during several presentations of the stimulus. Altogether, the bird emitted 3.3 times as many responses in the VI 3 stimulus as in the VI 9 stimulus. In the multiple schedule the ratio of the rate in VI 3 to the rate in VI 9 had been 1.16. After the rates in both stimuli declined to very low values, gradual increases in rate appeared during some presentations of the VI 3 stimulus, as before a and c in the detail of Fig. 1. The arrows above the curve in Record A indicate when the stimulus was changed. Two other birds showed a similar cyclic effect. Table 2 (Column 2) summarizes the extinction results for all subjects. Column 1 is the ratio of the rate in the VI 3 component to the rate in VI 9 for the last two

TABLE 2
Ratios of the Performance
in the Components of a Multiple Schedule during

Intermittent Reinforcement and Extinction

Intermittent Reinforcement

Extinction
No. VI 3 responses
No. VI 9 responses
4.72

VI 3 rate

Subject
VI 9 rate
S1 S2
1.52

1.23
1.66

3.92
2.46
3.30

S3
S4

1..16

368

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sessions of the multiple-schedule procedure. Comparison of Column 2 with Column 1 shows that the ratio of the performances in the two components differs more in extinction than during intermittent reinforcement for all four birds. Cumulativeresponse records revealed that the greater difference in extinction resulted both from a higher initial rate and a longer sustained period of responding in the VI 3 stimulus. The pairs of birds with different experimental histories also showed a characteristic difference. Birds S1 and S2, with more extensive experimental histories, showed a greater difference in extinction in the presence of the two colors than did S3 and S4. Also, they emitted a larger total number of responses in extinction than the less experienced pair.
DISCUSSION AND SUMMARY

Four pigeons were first reinforced under mult VI 3 VI 9, and responding was then extinguished under the two stimulus conditions. The ratio of the rates in the two stimuli differed more during extinction than during the period of intermittent reinforcement. Although the rate of responding during intermittent reinforcement was slightly higher in the component with the greater frequency of reinforcement, a still greater difference between the rates of responding in the two stimuli occurred in extinction. There are no normative data to show whether the ratio of the rates under the same simple schedules is more similar to the ratio obtained under the multiple schedule, or to the ratio of rates during extinction. The magnitude of the interaction under the multiple schedule is therefore impossible to identify quantitatively. However, the clear difference between the pairs of ratios obtained in the present experiment indicates that effects produced by a selected variable are a function, also, of the conditions under which they are obtained.

REFERENCES
Dews, P. B. Modification by drugs of performance on simple schedules of positive reinforcement. Ann. N. Y. A cad. Sci., 1956, 65, 268-28 1. Ferster, C. B., and Skinner, B. F. Schedules of Reinforcement. New York: Appleton-CenturyCrofts, 1957.