PI: J. E. R. Staddon, IBN 94-20646, Reinforcement Mechanisms One of the most basic, enduring goals of behavioral science is to understand how reward and punishment affect behavior and what these effects tell us about the basic mechanisms of learning. In this research project, Dr. Staddon will investigate three aspects of this problem: the effects of reward on choice, the processes by which patterns of reward affect behavior, and the processes that produce novel or creative behavior. The studies of choice will address the fact that choices are affected by both recent and remote events as well as by correlations between responses and rewards. Experiments will be carried out to disentangle these three variables and their effects on choice responses. Organisms also react immediately and proportionately to sudden changes in the time interval between rewards. These fast-acting processes allow organisms to track the intervals between successive rewards and react immediately to changes in the temporal patterning of rewards. A series of experiments will examine the dynamics of these timing effects. An act must occur before it can be modified by reward or punishment. This raises the question, How do novel behaviors occur? A third series of experiments will use the vocal behavior of budgerigars to study is process. Previous research has shown that budgerigars can easily learn to emit specific vocal names in the presence of different visual stimuli and will then spontaneously emit the name of a to-be-chosen stimulus during a choice task even if this is not required by the experimental procedures. By selectively rewarding rare vocalizations, it has been possible to expand this repertoire. A series of experiments will be carried out to explore the role of this novel vocal behavior in the learning of complex tasks. This research should help us understand the processes that produce new behaviors and may further our un derstanding of the role of speech in cognition and learning.
