Year of Award

2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department or School/College

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Allen Szalda-Petree

Commitee Members

Nabil Haddad, Wendy Shields, Stuart Hall, Jerry Smith

Keywords

rats, reinforcement, running

Publisher

University of Montana

Abstract

Rats were given a choice between two amounts of a run-reward after responding on one of two equidistant levers. Responding on one lever resulted in the delivery of a smaller, immediate access to a running wheel (Impulsive) while responding on the other lever resulted in the delivery of larger but delayed access to a running wheel (Self-control). A variable inter-trial-interval was used to control the session duration regardless of the distribution of choices made by the subject. The results demonstrate that the use of a wheel-running reinforcer results in a significant self-control choice bias. This suggests that the use of a wheel-running reinforcer can be used alongside food and water reinforcers without having to undergo caloric deprivation. This study demonstrates that the use of a running reinforcer may be a potentially powerful motivator in choice studies among rats.

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© Copyright 2007 Jennifer Lynn Brinegar