An Investigation Into Rate-building and Cues on Conditional Discrimination Performance Using a Repeated Acquisition Procedure

Abstract

The present study consisted of eleven experiments divided between two series of studies. The first part of Series 1 aimed at replicating the findings of Porritt (2007) and Porritt et al. (2009). Findings from Series 1 showed that rate-building, when number of practices and reinforcement rate are controlled, enhance training accuracy. However, the greater response rates did not improve retention accuracy, a failure to replicate. Given the contrary outcomes, the studies in the second part of Series 1 attempted to fully replicate Porritt by using variables that have been shown to improve retention accuracy. These results replicated Porritt only when similar behaviours were trained under like conditions between the Training and Retention components. An interpretation of the Series 1 data suggests that, rather than response rate, response duration may contribute towards retention accuracy. The second series of studies investigated the role of stimuli in the repeated acquisition procedure. Findings show the use of colour cues generated the greatest accuracy while completing behaviour chains. However, both colour cues and position of last response were found to govern chain completion accuracy. Findings from Series 2 suggest attention should be paid to the use of cues when the repeated acquisition procedure is used in rate-building experiments. Overall, the present study found that focusing on duration-reduction, in an animal analogue study using a repeated acquisition procedure with no-colour cues, may reveal the prime contributor to greater retention in Precision Teaching.