Sign-tracking and goal-tracking are behavioral tendencies in which Pavlovian conditioned responses are directed either toward the cue for an unconditioned stimulus (sign-tracking) or toward the location of an unconditioned stimulus delivery (goal-tracking). The current study examined operant response rates in sign- (n = 7) and goal-tracking (n = 11) Wistar rats under a restricted feeding schedule, ad libitum access to food, and reinforcer devaluation by prefeeding either the same or a different flavored pellet reinforcer. Only goal-tracking subjects significantly decreased their response rates after reinforcer devaluation by prefeeding, and only when the flavor used in prefeeding matched the reinforcer flavor. Both groups of subjects decreased responding under ad libitum food access compared to a 16-h food restriction schedule, but this effect size was larger in goal-tracking rats. These results extend recent findings that sign-trackers are more likely than goal-trackers to continue conditioned responding after unconditioned stimulus devaluation during operant conditioning.

符号跟踪和目标跟踪是行为趋势，其中巴甫洛夫条件式反应要么针对无条件刺激的提示（符号跟踪），要么针对无条件刺激传递的位置（目标跟踪）。本研究检查了 在受限喂食时间表下随意进食的Wistar大鼠的体征反应（n  = 7）和目标追踪（n = 11）的手术反应率通过预喂相同或不同风味的颗粒增强剂来获取食物并增强增强剂的价值。只有目标跟踪对象通过预进料使补强剂贬值后才显着降低其反应率，并且仅当预进料中使用的风味与补强剂的风味相匹配时才如此。与16小时的食物限制时间表相比，两组对象在随意进食的情况下都降低了反应，但是这种效果的大小在目标追踪大鼠中更大。这些结果扩展了最近的发现，即在操作员调节过程中无条件的刺激贬值之后，符号跟踪器比目标跟踪器更有可能继续进行条件响应。