The influence of collateral behavior on operant behavior

Operant behavior occurs mixed in with other not-explicitly reinforced behavior, called collateral behavior. Such collateral behaviors are usually unrecorded, and their role in the formation and maintenance of the pattern of operant behavior is not well established. Several experiments using rats as subjects illustrate the importance of collateral behavior for the pattern of operant behavior. Under food-reinforcement schedules, collateral behaviors such as water drinking may occur frequently. Similarly, under water-reinforcement schedules, collateral behaviors such as food eating may occur frequently. When licking for water is enhanced or suppressed experimentally by manipulating the flow of water while licking, the operant correspondingly is suppressed or enhanced. Essentially, an intermittent schedule of reinforcement between licking and water delivery is arranged by manipulating the water flow rate even though the rats are not water deprived. Similarly, when food-seeking is enhanced or suppressed experimentally by creating an intermittent schedule of reinforcement between food seeking and food retrieval even though the rats are not food deprived, the operant behavior correspondingly is suppressed or enhanced. Additionally, by arranging for collateral behavior to occur in experimenter-controlled bouts, the pattern of operant behavior can be controlled at the moment-to-moment level. Specifically, the experimenter can predict and control the duration of individual post-reinforcement pauses in operant behavior by manipulating access to collateral behavior. The overall data suggest that the interaction between operant behavior and collateral behavior can be examined as special case of concurrent schedules of reinforcement.