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      Catania's Concept of the Operant Revisited: Empirical Analysis of Response Variation and Controlling Contingencies

      Oliver, Gary Kelson
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      Oliver, G. K. (2009). Catania’s Concept of the Operant Revisited: Empirical Analysis of Response Variation and Controlling Contingencies (Thesis). The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/3509
      Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/3509
      Abstract
      Six Shaver‐Starcross hens with no prior experimental experience served as

      participants in two experiments which were designed to empirically test

      Catania's concept of the operant. The stimulus consisted of a cream coloured

      rectangle against a black background shown on a standard LCD computer

      monitor. An infrared touch screen mounted to the front of the LCD monitor

      recorded the location of all responses made by the participants. Experiment one

      consisted of autoshaping the rectangle pecking response. This was done using

      an automated computer program designed to eliminate latencies between

      responses and reinforcement, as well as positional biases which may have been

      introduced via manual autoshaping. The program successfully eliminated

      latencies and positional biases introduced by the experimenter, but took longer

      than anticipated to autoshape the desired response in the participants. It is

      suggested that procedural differences account for the unusual length of time

      taken to autoshape the participants in this experiment. Preliminary inquiry

      investigating procedural differences shows that it may be possible to model

      speed of acquisition more accurately than done so at present, without

      retrospective analysis of the acquisition data itself. In experiment two the active,

      reinforced zone of the rectangle was reduced. The participants had no visible

      cue demarcating active and inactive zones of the rectangle, yet in accordance

      with Catania's operant, responding across all participants came to fall within the

      active, reinforced zone of the rectangle. The results; shifts in response

      distributions in relation to the changes in contingencies, offer empirical support

      for Catania's operant in terms of positive reinforcement across a single

      parameter of responding. The implications of these findings imply that when

      variability in responding is important; for example in learning, exploring,

      creating, and problem solving, Catania's operant may be favourable over

      Skinner's operant as a vehicle for identifying and controlling variables associated

      with behavioural outcomes due to its greater topographical inclusivity.

      Contemporary behavioural analysis favours a behavioural systems approach

      iii

      where the respondent and operant class distinction merges; the environment

      affects the organism as much as the organism affects the environment. Catania's

      operant is complementary to behavioural analysis in this vein.
      Date
      2009
      Type
      Thesis
      Publisher
      The University of Waikato
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