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Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior logoLink to Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
. 1969 Jan;12(1):137–147. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1969.12-137

Intermittent punishment of human responding maintained by intermittent reinforcement1

Stanley R Scobie, Arnold Kaufman
PMCID: PMC1338584  PMID: 16811334

Abstract

To determine the effects of variable-interval shock punishment on behavior maintained by variable-interval and variable-ratio reinforcement, human subjects' key-pressing behavior was reinforced with money on a four-component multiple schedule. Components 1 and 2 were variable-interval 30-sec, and Components 3 and 4 were variable-ratio 210. After responding was stabilized, response-contingent electric shock was scheduled on a variable-interval 10-sec schedule during the second and fourth components of each cycle. Subjects instructed as to the reinforcement contingencies showed gradually increasing suppression of variable-interval responding at increasing shock intensities and either very high or very low rates of variable-ratio responding at higher intensities. Minimally instructed subjects showed suppression at higher shock intensities, but no clear differential suppression as a function of reinforcement schedule. Recovery from initial suppression was observed within sessions.

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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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