Rewarded goal-box placements and subsequent instrumental performance in rats

Studied the effect of direct placements over the goal cup followed by orthodox running trials in the alley. In Exp. I with 60 Holtzman male albino rats, following placements, 45 running trials were given to a reward of .99 or .09 gm., followed by 30 trials of .09 gm., followed by 21 trials of .99 gm. In Exp. II with 40 Holtzman female albino rats, following placements, 63 running trials were given to a reward of .09 gm. followed by 10 extinction trials. In both experiments the effects of placements were manifest throughout all subsequent running trials. Results suggest that on placement trials an instrumental reaction was made and that subsequent instrumental performance was facilitated by large-reward and inhibited by small-reward placements. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).