TOPOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE RATS BAR BEHAVIOR IN THE SKINNER BOX

We analysed precisely, with video tapes, the behaviour of 38 Wistar ra ts submitted to a continuous reinforcement in a Skinner box. Animals d isplayed 14 different behavioural patterns close to the bar. We found that the increasing frequency of the bar press, generally considered a s a unitary response was, in fact, due to summation of the development of several different behaviour frequencies. A CAH analysis led to the distinction of 5 behavioural categories. The frequency of each catego ry of behavioural patterns varied throughout learning in respect with the number of sessions before criterion. So, learning in the Skinner b ox would result from an association of the reinforcers with the succes sive units of behaviour exhibited by animals at the bar whose sequenti al organization and nature change according to acquisition rapidity.