Article,
A confound in the application of fixed-ratio schedules to the social behavior of male Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)
Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 22 (5): 484--487 (September 1984)
Abstract
Addressed a confound in the application of FR schedules to the social behavior of male Siamese fighting fish (SFF) in 2 experiments. It is contended that previous ratio-schedule studies of social reinforcement in Siamese fighting fish are of questionable validity because of their potential in causing the frequency and duration of stimulation to covary. In the present experiments, 15 domesticated male SFF were presented with a response-contingent mirror image on either CRF or FR 3 schedules. It was found that the differences between the 2 groups were understandable as the result of schedule-related changes in the duration of exposure to conspecific images, rather than to differences in the frequency of stimulation, and were due to the releasing and not the reinforcing functions of stimulation. The frequency distribution of agonistic behaviors in Ss was also shown to be bimodal: Some Ss fought intensely, whereas others escaped and attacked little. Results suggest that the multi-variate agonistic sequence of the SFF has not yet been subjected to an unambiguous operant analysis.
