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FIXED‐RATIO ESCAPE REINFORCEMENT 1
Author(s) -
Azrin N. H.,
Holz W. C.,
Hake D. F.,
Ayllon T.
Publication year - 1963
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1963.6-449
Subject(s) - reinforcement , squirrel monkey , stimulus (psychology) , shock (circulatory) , schedule , food delivery , psychology , audiology , computer science , medicine , neuroscience , social psychology , cognitive psychology , operating system , marketing , business
Escape responses of squirrel monkeys were reinforced according to a fixed‐ratio schedule. The reinforcement was a period of safety from a stimulus that signalled the delivery of intermittent pain‐shocks. When the frequency of shock was gradually reduced, the performance remained at a high level until the shocks were quite infrequent. Similarly, the duration of the period of safety could be reduced to a few seconds with little loss of behavior. Thus, the responses appeared to be reinforced by even a brief period of safety, the actual degree of shock reduction being fairly slight. The changes in responding during this fixed‐ratio escape procedure were comparable to the response changes typically obtained during fixed‐ratio food procedures.