Does Delay Length or Sequence Exposure Affect Repeated Acquisition Performance?

Abstract

Repeated acquisition of response chains is a systematic method used to study learning and memory. Subjects complete sequences of responses in order to earn reinforcers. Subjects must learn the correct sequence of responses for the session through trial-and-error. As the subject completes more correct sequences over session time, the number of errors should be reduced throughout the session. This within-session error reduction is defined as learning. The purpose of this study was to examine learning and memory by establishing baseline error rates for subjects and response sequences.