Acquisition of an operant response in presence of an alternative source: Contrafreeloading

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GUSTAVO BACHÁ MÉNDEZ

Abstract

Different species respond to obtain a reinforcer, while a source giving free access to the same reward is present; this effect is known as contrafreeloading (CFA). In two experiments rats were reinforced with water after a lever press, while a bottle giving free access to the same liquid was present. In the first study, eight rats were rewarded whenever they pressed a lever during the first session. In the following session, water was obtained only through the free access to the bottle. To balance the initial conditions, other eight rats were subjected to the inverse sequence. Subsequently, the animals were randomly assigned to four groups that combined: a) the existence or not of a contingency relation between the operant response and the reinforcer and b) if the source giving free access to the reward was present. A second study replicated these experimental conditions without explicit training to press the lever, nor previous experience with the free source. In both studies, the tendencies of the acquisition curves were positive for the groups with conditions that included contingency between responses and reward, whereas the tendencies of the groups without programmed contingency were negative. The water distribution and their percentage varied according to the number of options. The results are interpreted as a tendency or capacity of the subjects to use the alternative sources of reward at a medium term.

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How to Cite
BACHÁ MÉNDEZ, G. (2011). Acquisition of an operant response in presence of an alternative source: Contrafreeloading. Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis, 28(1), 91–104. https://doi.org/10.5514/rmac.v28.i1.23555