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REVERSAL OF PREFERENCE UNDER PROGRESSIVE‐RATIO SCHEDULES BY PUNISHMENT 1
Author(s) -
Dardano J. F.
Publication year - 1968
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.1968.11-133
Subject(s) - reinforcement , punishment (psychology) , reset (finance) , schedule , contingency , psychology , preference , shock (circulatory) , computer science , social psychology , statistics , mathematics , economics , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , financial economics , operating system
A progressive‐ratio reinforcement schedule, in which successive reinforcements required an additional 50 responses, was programmed on one key. A response on a second key reset the progressive‐ratio schedule to the first step. Before punishment, all pigeons consistently reset the schedule after reinforcement on the first step, thereby minimizing the number of responses required for reinforcement. Punishment was a brief electric shock contingent upon each response on the reset key. The first effect of punishment was to change the frequency of extra responses on the reset key. Under higher intensities of punishment, the pigeons completed the advanced steps of the progressive‐ratio schedule before resetting to the first step. Completions of advanced steps were accompanied by decreases in the overall rate of responding and the rate of reinforcement. When the punishment contingency was removed, the major features of pre‐punishment performance were recovered.