Abstract
In a choice situation in which rats could obtain rewards by barpressing or freely, an examination was made of the following seven deprivation-reward groups: food-food, food-water, food-sucrose, food-saccharin, water-water, water-sucrose, and water-saccharin. The food-food, food-sucrose, water-water, and water-sucrose groups preferred to obtain the rewards by barpressing. The water-saccharin group preferred the free reward. The remaining two groups did not learn to press the bar. Implications for the theory that barpressing has an intrinsic attractiveness for rats are discussed.
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This research was supported by a grant to the first author from the University of Nevada.
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Tarte, R.D., Townsend, S.G., Vernon, C.R. et al. An examination of various deprivation- reward combinations in the barpressing vs freeloading phenomenon in rats. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 3, 227–229 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333454
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333454