Abstract
A yellow canary was given free operant control of illumination for 104 days. Responding and duration of exposure to light were measured under continuous and intermittent schedules of reinforcement with illumination change. Daily rate of responding increased several fold on fixed-ratio and variable-ratio schedules, whereas duration of daily illumination remained uniform. Autocorrelation analyses revealed stable circadian periodicities in responding and exposure regardless of schedule manipulation. Response contingent alternation of light and dark can affect stimulus control over the operant behavior of the canary.
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Dr. Ellery Pierson served as data processing consultant and Miss Annamae Scham converted the data to IBM cards.
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Thor, D.H. Circadian Periodicity and Schedules of Sensory Reinforcement in the Canary. Psychol Rec 21, 419–427 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394035
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394035