A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats

The phenomena of an organism's preference to perform an operant task for a reinforcer rather than obtain the same reinforcer from a freely available source in a choice situation is referred to as the Protestant Ethic Effect (PEE). The present study hypothesized that different strains of rats wo...

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Main Author: Hanel, John
Format: Others
Published: TopSCHOLAR® 1976
Subjects:
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2461
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3457&context=theses
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spelling ndltd-WKU-oai-digitalcommons.wku.edu-theses-34572019-10-15T04:45:29Z A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats Hanel, John The phenomena of an organism's preference to perform an operant task for a reinforcer rather than obtain the same reinforcer from a freely available source in a choice situation is referred to as the Protestant Ethic Effect (PEE). The present study hypothesized that different strains of rats would demonstrate different levels of work activity when placed in a work versus freeload choice situation. Three strains of rats (Hooded, Sprague Dawley, and Wistar) were utilized. Each strain consisted of three male and three female animals, 100 to 110 days of age at the beginning of training. All subjects were trained to barpress for a single 45 mg Noyes food pellet and then presented with the choice between barpressing for food or eating freely accessible Noyes food pellets. The results of the present study indicated general, but not strong support for strain differences in work preference. Over the four test days, the Hooded, the Wistar, and the Sprague-Dawley strains respectively earned 54 percent, 45 percent, and 23 percent of their total food consumed in the choice situation. Thus, the results would suggest the PEE would more likely be demonstrated if Hooded rats were employed as subjects rather than the other strains. A possible explanation for the difference in strains may be due to the general activity levels characteristic of the respective strain. 1976-05-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2461 https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3457&context=theses Masters Theses & Specialist Projects TopSCHOLAR® Psychology Social and Behavioral Sciences
collection NDLTD
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic Psychology
Social and Behavioral Sciences
spellingShingle Psychology
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Hanel, John
A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats
description The phenomena of an organism's preference to perform an operant task for a reinforcer rather than obtain the same reinforcer from a freely available source in a choice situation is referred to as the Protestant Ethic Effect (PEE). The present study hypothesized that different strains of rats would demonstrate different levels of work activity when placed in a work versus freeload choice situation. Three strains of rats (Hooded, Sprague Dawley, and Wistar) were utilized. Each strain consisted of three male and three female animals, 100 to 110 days of age at the beginning of training. All subjects were trained to barpress for a single 45 mg Noyes food pellet and then presented with the choice between barpressing for food or eating freely accessible Noyes food pellets. The results of the present study indicated general, but not strong support for strain differences in work preference. Over the four test days, the Hooded, the Wistar, and the Sprague-Dawley strains respectively earned 54 percent, 45 percent, and 23 percent of their total food consumed in the choice situation. Thus, the results would suggest the PEE would more likely be demonstrated if Hooded rats were employed as subjects rather than the other strains. A possible explanation for the difference in strains may be due to the general activity levels characteristic of the respective strain.
author Hanel, John
author_facet Hanel, John
author_sort Hanel, John
title A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats
title_short A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats
title_full A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats
title_fullStr A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats
title_full_unstemmed A Comparison of the Protestant Ethic Effect Among Strains of Rats
title_sort comparison of the protestant ethic effect among strains of rats
publisher TopSCHOLAR®
publishDate 1976
url https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2461
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3457&context=theses
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