The effects of pipradrol on the acquisitionof responding with conditioned reinforcement: a role for sensory preconditioning.

Previous studies have shown that pipradrol enhances the acquisition of responding with conditioned reinforcement. The present experiments replicated this finding and assessed the possible role of nonspecific stimulus change, feeding in the test environment and prior exposure to the conditioned stimulus. The test procedure consisted of three phases: Operant rates of pressing two levers, one of which produced a 3-s tone, were measured in the pre-exposure phase; the tone was paired with food in the four conditioning sessions; and conditioned reinforcement was demonstrated in the test phase by a relative increase in pressing the tone lever. A group (N = 8) receiving food but no tone during the conditioning phase also increased responding on the tone lever in the test phase and this effect was enhanced in a group (N = 8) receiving pipradrol prior to the test. A group (N = 8) receiving neither tones nor pellets during conditioning and pipradrol prior to test failed to show a change in lever bias, ruling out the possibility that pipradrol produced a nonspecific enhancement of responding for stimulus change. It was hypothesized that the conditioned reinforcement effect seen in the food-alone groups resulted from sensory preconditioning. According to this hypothesis, the tone was conditioned to environmental stimuli during the pre-exposure phase; subsequent presentation of pellets resulted in a learned association between environmental stimuli and food, leading to increased responding for the tone in the test phase. The results of two control experiments supported this view. One group (N = 8) received no tone in the pre-exposure phase, pellets alone in the conditioning phase and then pipradrol prior to test. The second group, but under altered environmental stimulus conditions, and then was given pipradrol prior to test. Neither group showed evidence of conditioned reinforcement. It was concluded that pipradrol enhanced acquisition of responding with conditioned reinforcement even if the conditioned reinforceing stimulus was established with sensory preconditioning procedures.