Premium
EFFECTS OF RESPONSE‐INDEPENDENT NEGATIVE REINFORCERS ON NEGATIVELY REINFORCED KEY PECKING
Author(s) -
Hutton Larrie,
Lewis Paul
Publication year - 1979
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.1979.32-93
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , shock (circulatory) , stimulus (psychology) , pecking order , developmental psychology , stimulus control , audiology , social psychology , cognitive psychology , medicine , neuroscience , biology , evolutionary biology , nicotine
Previous research has shown that presenting response‐independent positive reinforcers reduces the response rate of an operant maintained by positive reinforcement. The present experiment investigated a similar effect using shock‐free time as a negative reinforcer. Brief shocks were delivered in the presence of a distinctive stimulus, and pigeon's key pecks were reinforced by the occasional presentation of a 2‐minute shock‐free period. Extra 2‐minute shock‐free periods were added independently of behavior. For each of three pigeons, response rate during shock‐on periods declined with added shock‐free periods; the more frequently the extra shock‐free periods occurred the greater the decline in response rate. This outcome is predicted by extending the Law of Effect to include negative reinforcement.