Changing the strength of punishment produced only minor changes in rats' speed of running to food and shock at the goal of an alley. The persistence of running behavior after increased or decreased shock intensity is attributed to a stereotyped withdrawal response conditioned at the goal during initial punishment training.
Three experiments investigated the effectiveness of conflict (shock plus food) in suppressing bar-pressing behavior so that alternative rewarded unpunished behavior would replace it. The results showed that conflict could be an effective suppressor when shock was given frequently (50% or 100%), with no delay or short delay (5 sec.), and when the punishment was of moderate or strong intensity (75 or 100 v.). However, if shock was infrequent (10%) or long delayed (20 sec.), it produced only partial suppression and incomplete preference for the rewarded alternative response. A very interesting finding was that conflict, which initially produced learning of the alternate response, could also cause rigidity (fixation) which prevented rats from learning another response when conditions were reversed.
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