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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1974 Jul;22(1):103–113. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1974.22-103

Response-produced timeouts under a progressive-ratio schedule with a punished reset option

J F Dardano
PMCID: PMC1333246  PMID: 16811767

Abstract

Three behavioral options were available to food-deprived pigeons: (1) pecking one key resulted in food reinforcement according to a 50-response progressive-ratio schedule, (2) pecking a second key reset the progressive-ratio schedule to the initial progressive-ratio step, and (3) pecking a third key produced a 3-min timeout period. Pecks on the reset key were shocked. Under low and intermediate shock intensities, timeouts were not produced; under high shock levels, timeouts were produced regularly. Timeouts occurred during the initial period of a progressive-ratio step and were more frequent during the longer steps of the progressive-ratio schedule. Response-produced timeouts under these experimental conditions could be interpreted either as an escape from aversive behavioral options or as a low-probability behavior emerging when the food reinforcement schedule exerted weaker control.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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