Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-1983

Abstract

Pigeons acquired a different four‐response chain each session by responding sequentially on three keys in the presence of a sequence of four colors. The response chain was maintained by food presentation under a fixed‐ratio schedule. Errors produced a brief timeout but did not reset the chain. Each day there were four 15‐minute sessions, with a 10‐minute intersession interval. Cumulative dose‐effect curves for phencyclidine, pentobarbital, and d‐amphetamine were obtained by giving an injection before each of the four sessions; successive injections increased the cumulative dose in equally spaced logarithmic steps. For comparison, non‐cumulative doses of each drug (i.e., doses not preceded by other doses on the same day) were also tested. As the cumulative dose of each drug increased, the overall response rate decreased, the percent errors increased, and there was less within‐session error reduction (acquisition). With phencyclidine and pentobarbital, the rate‐decreasing and error‐increasing effects tended to be greater with a non‐cumulative dose than with the corresponding cumulative dose. In contrast, with d‐amphetamine, the effects were considerably greater with the cumulative doses. The results indicate that although the cumulative‐dosing procedure saved a substantial amount of time in determining dose‐effect curves, there were quantitative differences in effects between cumulative and non‐cumulative doses. 1983 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

First Page

175

Last Page

184

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