Show simple item record

dc.contributor.advisorLudvigson, H. Wayne
dc.contributor.authorTaylor, Ronald Daviden_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-11T15:11:30Z
dc.date.available2019-10-11T15:11:30Z
dc.date.created1981en_US
dc.date.issued1981en_US
dc.identifieraleph-255158en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://repository.tcu.edu/handle/116099117/34739
dc.description.abstractEvidence for the production of differential odors by laboratory rats exposed to rewarded and nonrewarded goal events has been accumulating in recent years. While studies have shown that the odors arising from these treatments are discriminable by conspecifics introduced into the treatment environment, attempts to transfer the odors on paper flooring collected from the treatment area have not been particularly successful in achieving discriminations by conspecifics. The present studies were designed to provide data bearing on this discrepancy, and, in the process, bring data to bear on the common and differential components and volatile properties of the odors emitted by rats receiving the rewarded and nonrewarded treatments. To aid in the investigation of these odors, an olfactometer was developed which permitted the administration of rewarded and nonrewarded placements to odor-donor rats in small compartments through which filtered air could be passed, thereby transporting available olfactory components to test rats. In conjuction with the olfactometer, the appropriateness of an operant-discrimination task and procedure were examined as a means of drawing inferences about the discriminable properties of the odors from the behavior of the test rats. The results of four experiments suggest that paper flooring collected from the treatment area where donors received reward or nonreward carries rat-odor components which are common to rewarded and nonrewarded treatments. In contrast, odor cues collected by passing air over the donors or through the compartments after removing the donors are treatment unique and readily discriminable from one another. Tests performed with various rat, non-rat, and food odors indicated that the treatment-unique components which controlled discrimination in the test rats were provided by the donor rats themselves, and were highly volatile relative to other rat-odor components which were common to the treatments. The operant-discrimination task employed yielded substantial and reliable differential rates of responding by the test rats, with no obvious constraints on the ability of test rats to utilize either reward or nonreward odors as discriminative cues. Likewise, the olfactometer provided an effective means of trapping and transporting sufficient quantities of the volatile-and-differential odor components produced by donors receiving the rewarded and nonrewarded treatments.
dc.format.extentvii, 133 leaves, bound : illustrationsen_US
dc.format.mediumFormat: Printen_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofTexas Christian University dissertationen_US
dc.relation.ispartofAS38.T38en_US
dc.subject.lcshReward (Psychology)en_US
dc.subject.lcshReinforcement (Psychology)en_US
dc.subject.lcshRats as laboratory animalsen_US
dc.titleCommon and unique components of reward and frustrative nonreward odor emissions in the raten_US
dc.typeTexten_US
etd.degree.departmentDepartment of Psychology
etd.degree.levelDoctoral
local.collegeCollege of Science and Engineering
local.departmentPsychology
local.academicunitDepartment of Psychology
dc.type.genreDissertation
local.subjectareaPsychology
dc.identifier.callnumberMain Stacks: AS38 .T38 (Regular Loan)
dc.identifier.callnumberSpecial Collections: AS38 .T38 (Non-Circulating)
etd.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy
etd.degree.grantorTexas Christian University


Files in this item

FilesSizeFormatView

There are no files associated with this item.

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record