Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1967 Jan;10(1):95–107. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1967.10-95

The effects of punishment intensity on squirrel monkeys1

D F Hake, N H Azrin, Rebecca Oxford
PMCID: PMC1338325  PMID: 16811311

Abstract

Responses of squirrel monkeys were maintained by a variable-interval schedule of food reinforcement. Concurrently, punishment consisting of a brief electric shock followed each response. As has been found for pigeons and rats, punishment did not produce extreme, all-or-none reactions. By gradually increasing the punishment intensity it was possible to produce response rates intermediate to no suppression and complete suppression. Similarly, the moment-to-moment response rate was free of extreme fluctuations. A “warm-up” effect occurred in which the punished responses were especially suppressed during the initial part of a session. The pre-punishment performance was negatively accelerated within a session, and punishment reduced the degree of negative acceleration. When punishment was discontinued, responding recovered immediately except when suppression had been complete or prolonged. When the punishment intensity was decreased gradually, more suppression resulted at a given intensity than when intensity was increased gradually. This suggests a “behavioral inertia” effect wherein behavior at a new punishment intensity is biased toward the behavior at the previous value. A corollary generalization is that the larger the change in intensity, the less the behavior at the new value will be biased toward the behavior at the previous value.

Full text

PDF
95

Selected References

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

  1. APPEL J. B., PETERSON N. J. PUNISHMENT: EFFECTS OF SHOCK INTENSITY ON RESPONSE SUPPRESSION. Psychol Rep. 1965 Jun;16:721–730. doi: 10.2466/pr0.1965.16.3.721. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. APPEL J. B. Punishment in the squirrel monkey Saimiri sciurea. Science. 1961 Jan 6;133(3445):36–36. doi: 10.1126/science.133.3445.36. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. AZRIN N. H. Effects of punishment intensity during variable-interval reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1960 Apr;3:123–142. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1960.3-123. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. AZRIN N. H., HOLZ W. C., HAKE D. F. Fixed-ratio punishment. J Exp Anal Behav. 1963 Apr;6:141–148. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1963.6-141. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. AZRIN N. H., HOLZ W. C., HAKE D. Intermittent reinforcement by removal of a conditioned aversive stimulus. Science. 1962 Jun 1;136(3518):781–782. doi: 10.1126/science.136.3518.781. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. BRETHOWER D. M., REYNOLDS G. S. A facilitative effect of punishment on unpunished behavior. J Exp Anal Behav. 1962 Apr;5:191–199. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1962.5-191. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. ELLISON T., RIDDLE W. C. Commercial liquid diet for animals in behavioral studies. J Exp Anal Behav. 1961 Oct;4:370–370. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1961.4-370. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. FRY W., KELLEHER R. T., COOK L. A mathematical index of performance on fixed-interval schedules of reinforcement. J Exp Anal Behav. 1960 Jul;3:193–199. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1960.3-193. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HAKE D. F., AZRIN N. H. An apparatus for delivering pain shock to monkevs. J Exp Anal Behav. 1963 Apr;6:297–298. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1963.6-297. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. HOFFMAN H. S., FLESHLER M., CHORNY H. Discriminated bar-press avoidance. J Exp Anal Behav. 1961 Oct;4:309–316. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1961.4-309. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. MASSERMAN J. H., PECHTEL C. Neuroses in monkeys: a preliminary report of experimental observations. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1953 Feb 25;56(2):253–265. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1953.tb30221.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MILLER N. E. Learning resistance to pain and fear: effects of overlearning, exposure, and rewarded expsure in context. J Exp Psychol. 1960 Sep;60:137–145. doi: 10.1037/h0043321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Morse W. H., Kelleher R. T. Schedules using noxious stimuli. I. Multiple fixed-ratio and fixed-interval termination of schedule complexes. J Exp Anal Behav. 1966 May;9(3):267–290. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1966.9-267. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. SIDMAN M., HERRNSTEIN R. J., CONRAD D. G. Maintenance of avoidance behavior by unavoidable shocks. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1957 Dec;50(6):553–557. doi: 10.1037/h0043500. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. STORMS L. H., BOROCZI G., BROEN W. E., Jr EFFECTS OF PUNISHMENT AS A FUNCTION OF STRAIN OF RAT AND DURATION OF SHOCK. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1963 Dec;56:1022–1026. doi: 10.1037/h0043165. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior are provided here courtesy of Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior

RESOURCES