Handling-gentling as a positive secondary reinforcer.

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Abstract
Food-deprived rats were given pretraining experience in which handling was paired with eating. During 12 acquisition sessions they learned to approach the compartment of a 2-compartment box from which they were removed and stroked, demonstrating handling to be an effective positive secondary reinforcer. Two other groups, one given pretraining handling without deprivation and the other neither handled nor deprived, showed no systematic chage in entrances into their critical compartments. The 2 latter groups differed from each other in general activity level, with the prehandled Ss being more active.

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