When discrete localizable stimuli are used during appetitive Pavlovian conditioning, "sign-tracking" and "goal-tracking" responses emerge. Sign-tracking is observed when conditioned responding is directed toward the CS, whereas goal-tracking manifests as responding directed to the site of expected reward delivery. These…

Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior can be directed as much toward discrete cues as it is toward the environmental contexts in which those cues are encountered. The current experiments characterized a tendency of rats to approach object cues whose prior exposure had been paired with reward (conditioned object preference, COP). To demonstrate…

Three experiments with rat subjects examined resurgence of an extinguished instrumental response using the procedure introduced by Epstein (1983) with pigeons. There were three phases: (1) initial acquisition of pressing on a lever (L1) for pellet reward, (2) extinction of L1, and (3) a test session in which a second lever (L2) was inserted,…

Rats in a Pavlovian situation were trained under three different reward schedules, at either a 30 s or a 90 s intertrial interval (ITI): Consistent reward (C), 50% irregular reward (I), and single alternation of reward and nonrewarded trials (SA). Activity was recorded to the conditioned stimulus (CS) and in all 10 s bins in each ITI except the…

Combined activation of dopamine D1- and NMDA-glutamate receptors in the nucleus accumbens has been strongly implicated in instrumental learning, the process in which an individual learns that a specific action has a wanted outcome. To assess dopaminergic activity, we presented rats with two sessions (30 trials each) of a one-lever appetitive…

TWO EXPERIMENTS WERE CONDUCTED TO CLASSIFY AND TO CONDITION REWARD RESPONSIVENESS IN KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN. IN THE FIRST EXPERIMENT, 207 CHILDREN WITH A MEDIAN AGE OF 6.0 WERE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR RESPONSIVENESS TO A HIERARCHY OF REWARDS. AFTER TWO SESSIONS INVOLVING TWO-CHOICE INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING TASKS, 60 PERCENT OF THE CHILDREN…

In two experiments involving a two-choice marble dropping game children responded more to social control than to the magnitude of the reward. (ST)

IN A SPECIALLY ORGANIZED NURSERY SCHOOL SETTING, DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN BETWEEN TWO AND ONE-HALF AND THREE AND ONE-HALF YEARS OF AGE, EXPERIENCED CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT (CM) PROCEDURES TO MODIFY VERBAL BEHAVIOR. IN ONE ROOM OF A LARGE, PRIVATE DWELLING CONVERTED INTO A NURSERY SCHOOL, REQUISITE ANTECEDENT BEHAVIORS (RAB) WERE ESTABLISHED IN EACH…

The use of operant techniques in the classroom, especially with slow learners, was investigated, and several types of reinforcement were compared. Subjects were 129 fourth graders enrolled in a middle school in a disadvantaged rural Florida community. The subjects were stratified by race, sex, and homeroom and were randomly assigned to one of five…