Research Commons
      • Browse 
        • Communities & Collections
        • Titles
        • Authors
        • By Issue Date
        • Subjects
        • Types
        • Series
      • Help 
        • About
        • Collection Policy
        • OA Mandate Guidelines
        • Guidelines FAQ
        • Contact Us
      • My Account 
        • Sign In
        • Register
      View Item 
      •   Research Commons
      • University of Waikato Research
      • Arts and Social Sciences
      • Arts and Social Sciences Papers
      • View Item
      •   Research Commons
      • University of Waikato Research
      • Arts and Social Sciences
      • Arts and Social Sciences Papers
      • View Item
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

      Assessment of demand for food under concurrent PR and FR schedules in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus Vulpecula)

      Cameron, Kristie Elizabeth; Bizo, Lewis A.; Starkey, Nicola J.
      Thumbnail
      Files
      eScholarship UC item 2ng716nq.pdf
      Published version, 1.046Mb
      Link
       escholarship.org
      Find in your library  
      Citation
      Export citation
      Cameron, K. E., Bizo, L. A., & Starkey, N. J. (2015). Assessment of demand for food under concurrent PR and FR schedules in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus Vulpecula). International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 28, 1–19.
      Permanent Research Commons link: https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9783
      Abstract
      The aim of this study was to compare the demand by possums for foods under different arrangements of concurrent progressive-ratio and fixed-ratio schedules of reinforcement. In Experiment 1, every possible food pair made up of berries, chicken, egg, foliage, insects, and mushroom was presented (30 pairs in total). The requirement on the progressive-ratio schedule increased within a session and the fixed-ratio was kept constant at 30. In Experiment 2, a subset of the foods from Experiment 1 were used (chicken, mushroom, egg, and berries) and in separate conditions the fixed-ratio was either 30 or 10 responses. In Experiment 3, the foods were the same as used in Experiment 2 and the progressive-ratio schedule increased every five sessions and the fixed-ratio was kept constant at 30. Exponential models of demand were applied to consumption rates to compare the parameters of initial demand, essential value and Pmax, and break point and cross point across foods. The models described the data well and consumption rates were similar when the incrementing schedules increased within- and across sessions. Demand was highest for berries, egg, and locust in Experiment 1 and egg and chicken in Experiments 2 and 3. This finding has practical implications for understanding possum food preferences in the wild as a function of other available food sources and for informing pest control strategies of potential lures.
      Date
      2015
      Type
      Journal Article
      Publisher
      International Society for Comparative Psychology
      Rights
      © 2015 the authors. This work is made available under the terms of the Creative

      Commons Attribution3.0 license, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
      Collections
      • Arts and Social Sciences Papers [1403]
      Show full item record  

      Usage

      Downloads, last 12 months
      43
       
       

      Usage Statistics

      For this itemFor all of Research Commons

      The University of Waikato - Te Whare Wānanga o WaikatoFeedback and RequestsCopyright and Legal Statement