Opportunity for Interaction as Reinforcement in a T-maze

Abstract. Two forms of handling were used as reinforcement in a T-maze for 34 albino rats. In a twelve-day experiment, those receiving gentling learned to avoid reinforcement while those receiving fondling learned to obtain it. In a six-day follow-up, rats were given either a fondling hand or a rat companion as reinforcement. The proportion of reinforced trials and running times were similar for both objects. Rats learned a task to obtain interaction with a rat or responsive surrogate. Werner and Latan6 (1974) have argued that responsive interaction is an important basis of social attraction in albino rats. They demon-strated that rats were attracted to a responsive fondling human hand, spending upwards of 60 % of a five minute test period in contact with this social surrogate. The kind and amount of interaction was compara-ble to rats behavior with rat companions. This finding conflicts with a series of studies in which gentling--a form of handling similar t