SEXUAL REINFORCEMENT IN THE FEMALE RAT

Sexual reinforcement in the female rat was studied in a preparation th at allowed continuous operant responding for access to a male rat lead ing to intromission. Experiment 1 used a high operant level nose-poke response to test the possible reinforcing effects of some components o f access to a male. A simple tone stimulus used as a conditioned reinf orcer and two odor stimuli, target male bedding and emulsified preputi al gland, were tested. None of these contingent events altered respond ing above or below operant level. Access to the male, which was always accompanied by intromission, immediately increased response rate when it was made contingent upon the nose-poke response. Performance on fi xed-ratio schedules was erratic, and response rate was low in comparis on to typical food-reinforced responding. An interresponse-time analys is indicated, however, that some effect of the ratio contingency may h ave been present. In Experiment 2, several modifications of the proced ure were tested with the objective of creating a more tractable prepar ation for behavior analysis. Response type and the hormone delivery me thod were changed, and 2 target males were used instead of 1. The latt er tripled the average number of reinforcers earned in a single sessio n. Differences between sexual and other reinforcers are discussed in t erms of procedural, quantitative, and motivational aspects of the sexu al reinforcement procedure.