Interactive Effects of Shock,Insulin,and Food Pellet Properties on Operant Behavior

Rats were trained on multiple and concurrent schedules of reinforcement to assess the interactive effects of shock, insulin, and food pellet properties. The intensities of shock were .4 ma. and .8 ma. The temporal intervals between pellet occurrence and shock onset were .0, .5, 1.0, and 2.0 sec. The doses of insulin were 4, 12, 20, and 28 units. The types of pellets were Noyes sucrose and Noyes standard. The effects of the parameters or these variables were studied in comparison to the steady state behavior of Ss under the multiple and concurrent schedules. Rates of responding changed systematically as a function of shock and pellet type. Insulin produced considerable variation in responding.