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. 1987 Jan;47(1):97–113. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1987.47-97

Variable-interval schedules of timeout from avoidance

Michael Perone, Mark Galizio
PMCID: PMC1348300  PMID: 16812473

Abstract

Rats were trained on concurrent schedules in which pressing one lever postponed shock and pressing the other occasionally produced a 2-min timeout during which the shock-postponement schedule was suspended and its correlated stimuli were removed. Throughout, the shock-postponement schedule maintained proficient levels of avoidance. Nevertheless, in Experiment 1 responding on the timeout lever was established rapidly, was maintained at stable levels on variable-interval schedules, was extinguished by withholding timeout, was reestablished when timeout was reintroduced, and was brought under discriminative control with a multiple variable-interval extinction schedule of timeout. These results are in contrast with Verhave's (1962) conclusion that timeout is an ineffective reinforcer when presented to rats on intermittent schedules. In Experiment 2 the consequence of responding on the timeout lever was altered so that the shock-postponement schedule remained in effect even though the stimulus conditions associated with timeout were produced for 2 min. Responding extinguished, indicating that suspension of the shock-postponement schedule, not stimulus change, was the source of reinforcement. By establishing the reinforcing efficacy of timeout with standard variable-interval schedules, these experiments illustrate a procedure for studying negative reinforcement in the same way as positive reinforcement.

Keywords: negative reinforcement, shock-postponement schedule, timeout from avoidance, variable-interval schedules, extinction, multiple schedules, sensory reinforcement, 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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