144 boys and girls in Grades 2 and 6 were presented a 2-choice simultaneous brightness-discrimination task. Ss were either verbally reinforced for correct responses (Rn), verbally punished for incorrect responses (Wn), or verbally reinforced for correct and punished for incorrect responses (RW). Two levels of task complexity defined as the number of irrelevant stimulus dimensions were utilized. Regardless of Ss' sex, age, or the complexity of the task, the Rn combination produced significantly slower learning than did the nearly equivalent Wn and RW combinations. The simple task was learned significantly more rapidly than the complex task.
College Ss were given 75 lever-press escape trials with omission of entertaining material constituting the aversive stimulus. Reinstatement of the recording occurred either 0, 3, 6, or 9 sec. after the escape response. One-half of Ss in each delay group received 15 inescapable trials immediately prior to the escape trials. The results indicated that response latencies for the escape trials were directly related to the delay interval employed. Inescapable pretraining did not differentially affect performance.
70 college Ss acquired an avoidance response with omission of recording constituting the aversive stimulus. 60 Ss received a punished extinction procedure in which omission of recording occurred either 0, 3, or 6 sec. after a response. Duration of recording omission in each delay group was either 5 or 15 sec. Ten Ss received a normal CS-only extinction procedure. Results indicated that resistance to extinction was directly related to the delay intervals. Duration did not differentially affect performance during extinction. Greatest resistance to extinction occurred in the CS-only group.
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