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MOLECULAR CONTINGENCIES IN SCHEDULES OF INTERMITTENT PUNISHMENT
Author(s) -
Arbuckle Jeffery L.,
Lattal Ken A.
Publication year - 1992
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.1992.58-361
Subject(s) - schedule , shock (circulatory) , psychology , interval (graph theory) , percentile , punishment (psychology) , variable (mathematics) , statistics , pecking order , econometrics , computer science , social psychology , mathematics , medicine , biology , mathematical analysis , combinatorics , evolutionary biology , operating system
In two experiments, key pecking of pigeons was maintained by a variable‐interval 180‐s schedule of food presentation. Conjointly, a second schedule delivered response‐dependent electric shock. In the first experiment, shocks were presented according to either a variable‐interval or a nondifferential interval‐percentile schedule. The variable‐interval shock schedule differentially delivered shocks following long interresponse times. Although the nondifferential shock schedules delivered shocks less differentially with respect to interresponse times, the two shock schedules equally reduced the relative frequency of long interresponse times. The second experiment differentially shocked long or short interresponse times in different conditions, with resulting decreases in the relative frequency of the targeted interresponse times. These experiments highlight the importance of selecting the appropriate level of analysis for the interaction of behavior and environment. Orderly relations present at one level of analysis (e.g., interresponse times) may not be revealed at other levels of analysis (e.g., overall response rate).