Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Kennon A. Lattal.

Abstract

To extend research on the relation between temporal control and resistance to change, the temporal location of response-independent food was examined in a modified peak-interval procedure (PIP) with pigeons. Sequences of the PIP consisted of 2, 3, 4 or 5 FI 30-s trials followed by a 90-s peak trial, each separated by a 90-s blackout. In different conditions, response-independent food was delivered within the first, last, or a randomly selected FI trial of each sequence. Overall, quarter-life values, peak times, and peak rates showed the highest decrease in temporal control relative to baseline when disruption occurred in the last FI trial. Delay of disruption gradients, constructed from each of these measures, were similar in form and function to delay of reinforcement gradients.

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