Demand for Social Contact in Rats: Toward a Quantitative Analysis of Social Reinforcement Value

Main Article Content

Lauren Vanderhooft,
Lavinia Tan
Timothy D. Hackenberg

Abstract

Rats were studied in social-release procedures, in which lever presses by one rat released
a second rat from a tube restraint for a period of social interaction. Both the
fixed-ratio price and the duration of social contact were varied systematically on a
within-subject basis, generating a total of 27 demand functions across six subjects.
Overall, the data were well accounted for by the essential value model (96% VAF),
supporting a social reinforcement view, according to which social-release behavior is maintained by social contact with another rat. Response rates and parameter fitswere comparable in 25-min and 120-min sessions, showing little evidence of satiation.Overall, the findings suggest that socially-reinforced behavior shares functionalproperties with other reinforcers, and illustrate a promising set of methods for quantifying social reinforcement value.

Article Details

How to Cite
Vanderhooft, L., Tan, L., & Hackenberg, T. D. (2019). Demand for Social Contact in Rats: Toward a Quantitative Analysis of Social Reinforcement Value. Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis, 45(2). https://doi.org/10.5514/rmac.v45.i2.75571