Stimulus dynamics increase the self-administration of compound visual and auditory stimuli.
AUTHORS
Olsen
CMChristopher M ,
Winder
DG Danny G .
Neuroscience letters. 2012 3 5; 511(1).
8-11
- PMID: 22249116[PubMed].
- PMCID: PMC3299404.
- NIHMSID: NIHMS349402
ABSTRACT
Animals will acquire an operant task using sensory stimuli as a primary reinforcer. Many operant tasks use sensory stimuli as cues that are paired with other primary reinforcers. Recent studies have called attention to this potential confound, but there has not been a parametric assessment of the effect of stimulus variability on operant responding. We found that stimulus variability increased the amount of operant responding exhibited by mice, a phenomenon observed under both fixed- and progressive-ratio schedules.