Runway extinction with and without shock as a function of acquisition reward magnitude.

Abstract

Thirty-two albino rats were given runway training with either large or small reward. When running speeds stabilized, extinction began with half the Ss in each reward group receiving shock in the unbaited goal box. As in previous studies, the large-reward groups extinguished more rapidly than the small-reward groups and the shocked Ss more rapidly than the non-shocked. However, no significant interaction was found between acquisition reward magnitude and extinction shock treatment. The results were interpreted in terms of the hypothesized mediating emotional response produced by both non-reward and shock.IN TRADITIONAL STUDIES of conflict behaviour rats are trained to traverse a runway for food reward and then given electric shock for making the instrumental response. Despite some procedural similarities little is known about the concordance of conflict behaviour and behaviour elicited by simple extinction (non-reward without shock), partly because in conflict experiments post-acquisition variables are typically manipulated, whereas in extinction studies the emphasis has been on acquisition variables. At least one study, however, has suggested that the similarities between conflict and extinction may be more than procedural. Karsh (1962) has shown that overlearning increases the effectiveness of punishment, a finding which concurs with the discovery in a number of recent studies that runway extinction is facilitated by overlearning (e.g., Ison, 1962;North & Stimmel, 1960; Siegel & Wagner, 1963) at least if reward magnitude is large (Theios & Brelsford, 1964).The significance of comparing non-reward and shock comes from theoretical positions which state that the decremental effect produced by each is mediated by an emotional response. Indeed, Wagner (1966) has made the parsimonious suggestion that after acquisition the same emotional state occurs regardless of whether it is evoked by non-reward or punishment. A reasonable question, therefore, is whether acquisition

Runway extinction as a joint function of acquisition reward percentage and extinction punishment intensity.

“…A more detailed description of the apparatus and the prehandling procedure is given elsewhere (cf. Ratliff, Koplin, & Clayton, 1968).…”