Feline indolence: Cats prefer free to response-produced food

Abstract

Previous experiments have shown that rats and pigeons will emit operants for food reinforcement even when identical food is freely available. Six cats with histories of either continuous or continuous and intermittent reinforcement were given the choice between food delivered 0.8 ml at a time on a continuous reinforcement (CRF) schedule or 200 ml of the same food freely available in a dish. Regardless of experimental history, all Ss eventually ate all the freely available food before beginning to respond on the CRF schedule. © 1971, Psychonomic Journals, Inc.. All rights reserved.