In the instrumental yoked control condition, responding was sustained despite unpredictable frequency of reward as long as the instrumental contingency was intact and at least a partial reinforcement schedule was in effect.
For Skinner, a behavior would get associated with a situation according to the frequency and strength of reinforcement that would arise as a consequence of the behavior.
These results suggest that mice selectively reduced variability in the behavioral domains where variability affected the probability of reinforcement (sequence frequency), but not in domains where variability did not change this probability (sequence duration).
We verified that sequences leading to reinforcement had indeed significantly lower variability in frequency compared to non-reinforced sequences (main effect of reinforcement, F1,38 = 7.608, p = 0.0089, Figure 3C and F1,38 = 28.34, p < 0.0001, Figure 3E), but there were no significant differences in the variability of sequence duration between reinforced and non-reinforced sequences.
The pattern of reward-giving, both in time and frequency, is known as a "schedule of reinforcement".
In computational models of reinforcement learning, loss frequency affects action selection [ 60].
Reinforcer Type of reinforcement applied.
Positive reinforcement increases the frequency of a behavior in the future, whereas, negative reinforcement decreases the frequency of future occurrences of the behavior.
Regarding WIS rats, the intermediate length (in epoch 1) and frequency (in both epochs) of their bouts suggest an intermediate delay-of-reinforcement gradient for this strain relative to SHR and WKY.
These pioneer behavior studies with the concurrent schedules of reinforcement have displayed the frequency effect for choice pattern [ 45- 49].
