Aversive Stimulation of the Rat: Long-Term Effects on Subsequent Behavior

Walters, Gary C.; Rogers, Judith V.

doi:10.1126/science.142.3588.70

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In animals with a history of responding under schedules of shock postponement, periodically presented response-independent electric shocks can enhance responding (Herrnstein and Sidman, 1958;Sidman, Herrnstein, andc Conrad, 1957) or maintain responding Waller and Waller, 1963). In animals with a history of suppressed responding under schedules of electric shock presentation, the suppressive effects of subsequent erectric shocks, even of low intensity, may be greater (Azrin, 1960;Rachlin, 1966;Walters and Rogers, 1963). In the present study (Exp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 47%

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS¹

Kelleher

Morse

1968

J Exper Analysis Behavior

251

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Responding was maintained in two squirrel monkeys under several variations of a 10-min fixed-interval schedule of electric shock presentation. The monkeys were first trained under a 2-min variable-interval schedule of food presentation, and then under a concurrent schedule of food presentation and shock presentation. In one monkey, when shocks (12.6 ma) followed each response during the last minute of an 11-min cycle ending with a timeout period, responding was increased during the first 10 min and suppressed during the last minute of each cycle. When the shock schedule was eliminated, both the enhancement and suppression disappeared, and a steady rate of responding was maintained under the variable-interval schedule. When the food schedule was eliminated, the shock schedule maintained a characteristic fixed-interval pattern of responding during the first 10 min, but suppressed responding during the last minute of each cycle. The fixed-interval pattern of responding was maintained when the timeout period was eliminated and when only one shock could occur at the end of the cycle. In the second monkey, responding under the concurrent food and shock schedule was suppressed when responses produced shocks after 3-min. Under an 11-min cycle, responding continued to be maintained at increasing shock intensities. When the food schedule was eliminated, a fixed-interval pattern of responding was maintained under a 10-min schedule of shock presentation (12.6 ma). Whether response-produced electric shocks suppressed responding or maintained responding depended on the schedule of shock presentation.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 47%

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS¹

Kelleher

Morse

1968

J Exper Analysis Behavior

251

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…On the other hand, sensitization seems to occur when the subject is initially exposed to strong shock. Walters and Rogers (1963) found that subjects pretreated with strong unavoidable shock, showed more suppression in a punishment situation a year later (where mild shock-0.2 ma was used) than did subjects not pretreated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

VARIABLE‐INTERVAL PUNISHMENT DURING VARIABLE‐INTERVAL REINFORCEMENT¹

Filby

Appel

1966

J Exper Analysis Behavior

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Variable-interval punishment was superimposed on a variable-interval food reinforcement baseline for three groups of rats. The value for the variable-interval punishment schedule was the same as that for the variable-interval food reinforcement schedule, although the two schedules were programmed independently. The three groups were Variable Intervals 0.5, 1, and 3 min. Little or no suppression occurred in the three groups at mild (0.2 and 0.4 ma) intensities of punishment, but at 0.6 ma, complete suppression occurred almost uniformly. During continued punishment, there was no consistent recovery toward the pre-punishment baseline at suppressing intensities of punishment. After punishment was discontinued, recovery from suppression was more rapid the lower the punishment intensity, and the lower the value of the variable-interval schedules of reinforcement and punishment.When punishment follows a response which is concurrently positively reinforced, a temporary or permanent reduction ("suppression") in the rate of responding is usually seen. This temporary reduction is followed by recovery during, and after, a punishment period either to, below, or even above, the pre-punishment level. Previous studies, using a continuous (Azrin, 1959(Azrin, , 1960bAppel, 1963;Boroczi, Storms, and Broen, 1964), periodic (Estes, 1944, Experiments E and K), or fixed-ratio punishment schedule (Azrin, Holz, and Hake, 1963;Hendry and Van-Toller, 1964), have related both the suppression and recovery phenomena of punishment to characteristics of the punishing stimulus (shock level, shock duration), the concurrent schedule of positive reinforcement which maintains responding, and the state of the punished organism (deprivation level). There has been little work on variable-interval punishment. In Azrin's (1956) study of punishment, a modified variable-interval punishment schedule was used, the punishment period (signaled by a change in key color) alternating with a "safe" period. A fairly high shock level was used, and behavior was rapidly and completely suppressed, with subsequent slow recovery. It is not certain whether these results are characteristic of variable-interval punishment at lower shock levels.The present study extends Azrin's (1956) work. Primary interest was on the effect of frequency of punishment (number of punishments delivered to each animal per session was approximately constant) and punishment intensity (shock level was systematically varied from low to high) on behavior. In studies of punishment using a continuous punishment schedule, number of punishments is an uncontrolled variable. That is, when punishment follows each and every response, a higher rate of responding results in a greater number of punishments. This correlation may enhance the effect of the punishment itself. In a variableinterval punishment schedule, the two are independent, as long as the animal maintains a minimal level of responding. Thus, variableinterval punishment may have different effects on behavior than other schedules of punishment. 5...

show abstract

“…Other studies have assessed the long-term retention of a fear response induced in rats by use of traumatic shock (Pearl, Walters, & Anderson, 1964;Walters & Rogers, 1963). This fear response showed suppressing effects when the animal was subsequently presented with an aversive task.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Long-Term Retention of Heat Training in Mongolian Gerbils

Neylon¹,

Brosgole²

1974

Psychol Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Surnmry.-Escape from heat was used to produce a black-white discrimination response in 60 gerbils. The animals were retested after 2, 4, or 6 calendar months from the date of original learning. The retest consisted of reversal learning for half the group and retraining for the other half. The relearning group showed significant savings and differed reliably from the reversal group which demonsrrated no uansfer at all. The originally learned response persisted, being unaffected by the passage of time. It was concluded that heat training results in the long-term retention of an acquired response.Brosgole and Ulatowski (1973) showed that escaping heat is an effective technique in producing a black-white discrimination response in the gerbil. Furthermore, the task seemed to be retained for 5 wk. following original learning as a marked savings was demonstrated when subsequently retraining the animals. However, it is entirely possible thac the retraining data reflected a practice effect only, and that there was no specific carry over from original learning. Therefore, the following experiment was designed to separate practice from retention. This was accomplished by retraining half the group, while subjecting the other half to a cue-reversal procedure. Three such groups were run, with 2, 4, 6 mo. of rest interpolated between original learning and the retest (be it retraining or reversal). It was reasoned thac, if the prior data were based on practice alone, then both the retraining and reversal groups should demonstrate an equal amount of savings. However, if the specifics of the original task were retained, then the reversal group should show significantly less savings.Sixty inbred Mongolian gerbils, strain Mon/tum were tested. Half were males and half were females. They ranged in age from 11 to 22 wk. on the date that original learning commenced.The apparatus was a box, 19 in. wide X 13% in. deep X 8 in. high. The base was wooden, the sides and back were made of Ys-in. galvanized steel, and the front was left open. The box was divided into a front and a back half, each measuring 18 in. wide X 6% in. deep X 8 in. high. The back half was divided further into chree equal-sized adjacent areas (6 in. wide X 6% in. deep) which served as goal boxes. The front portion accommodated a start box.Two Masonite dividers were built in the shape of the Greek letter Pi ( r ) . They served as walls, sectioning off the starting area and the three goal boxes.

show abstract

Aversive Stimulation of the Rat: Long-Term Effects on Subsequent Behavior

Cited by 23 publications

References 7 publications

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS¹

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS¹

VARIABLE‐INTERVAL PUNISHMENT DURING VARIABLE‐INTERVAL REINFORCEMENT¹

Long-Term Retention of Heat Training in Mongolian Gerbils

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Aversive Stimulation of the Rat: Long-Term Effects on Subsequent Behavior

Cited by 23 publications

References 7 publications

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS1

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS1

VARIABLE‐INTERVAL PUNISHMENT DURING VARIABLE‐INTERVAL REINFORCEMENT1

Long-Term Retention of Heat Training in Mongolian Gerbils

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS¹

SCHEDULES USING NOXIOUS STIMULI. III. RESPONDING MAINTAINED WITH RESPONSE‐PRODUCED ELECTRIC SHOCKS¹

VARIABLE‐INTERVAL PUNISHMENT DURING VARIABLE‐INTERVAL REINFORCEMENT¹