Effects of a Mere-Presence Conspecific on Extinction of an Operant

In a 2 × 2 factorial design, 32 hunger-motivated albino rats were trained to press a bar for food in a Skinner box. Animals practiced this operant, with or without a mere-presence conspecific, on a VR reinforcement schedule for 10 days and were extinguished with or without a conspecific in a nearby compartment. The results showed that the presence of a conspecific did not enhance this operant during practice sessions nor its resistance to extinction. During extinction the animals that experienced the presence or absence of a conspecific for the first time showed a reduced rate of responding. The findings cast doubt on a drive theory of social facilitation and support a generalization-decrement hypothesis

Biology · Extinction (optical mineralogy · Operant conditioning · Reinforcement · Communication · Corporate Governance and Management · Paleontology · Psychology · Social Psychology · Team Dynamics and Performance

• Social Facilitation

  Open Access•Robert B Zajonc•Science•1965

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• The Dynamogenic Factors in Pacemaking and Competition

  Norman Triplett•The American Journal of Psychology•1898

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• Driven by distraction

  Open Access•Glenn S Sanders•Journal of Experimental Social…•1981

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• The social psychology of the vertebrates

  Meredith P Crawford•Psychological Bulletin•1939

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• Drive theory of social facilitation

  Russell G Geen, James J Gange•Psychological Bulletin•1977

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