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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1976 Jan;25(1):75–80. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1976.25-75

Choice and the rate of punishment in concurrent schedules1

Marvin Z Deluty
PMCID: PMC1333417  PMID: 16811898

Abstract

Rats' responses on two levers were reinforced according to independent random-interval 1.5-min food schedules. In addition, both lever presses were intermittently punished according to several concurrent random-interval random-interval shock schedules. For the left, the scheduled rate of punishment was kept constant according to a random-interval 6-min schedule. For the right, the rate of punishment varied. As the frequency of punishment for the right lever press increased, its rate decreased. The rate of the left punished lever press increased, however, even though its scheduled reinforcement rate and punishment rate remained unchanged.

Keywords: choice, concurrent schedules, punishment, matching law, lever press, rats

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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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