SOME PUNISHING EFFECTS OF RESPONSE‐FORCE 1

The present experiment explored the punishing effect of different response‐force requirements by means of a two‐operant design analogous to a two‐component chain schedule. The first component of the chain required a lever pull through 0.25 in. (0.64 cm) at 1 lb (4.45 N) of force. The second component required a lever pull through an additional 0.75 in. (1.90 cm) with the force varied between sessions from 1 lb to 50 lb (4.45 N to 223 N). Completion of the second component of the chain was reinforced after variable intervals averaging 1 min. The average rate of first‐component response decreased as the force requirement for second‐component responses was increased. This rate reduction did not appear to be due to increased response duration, “fatigue”, or differing rates of reinforcement. If the force requirement for the second‐component response is viewed as a consequence for the first‐component response, then the results of the experiment show that a high force requirement is a punisher.