Abstract
The intensity of a buzzer conditioned stimulus (CS) was manipulated during shock-escape conditioning and extinction of albino rats in a straight runway, using a guillotine-door procedure. After 20 acquisition trials, the rats were placed on extinction, but half were given regular extinction trials and half were subjected to shock punishment in the goal box at the termination of each run. The CS conditions of no buzzer, 71-dB buzzer, and 83- dB buzzer had no significant effects during acquisition, and they did not differentiate punished groups during extinction. Nevertheless, the higher intensity buzzer produced faster running on the part of nonpunished animals during extinction than did the no buzzer condition. In contrast to certain theoretical positions, punishment facilitated running under all CS conditions. The results were interpreted as a function of the differential presence of conditioned aversive stimulation with reference to the rat’s presence in different parts of the apparatus.
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Babb, H. Facilitation by Goal Punishment After Escape Conditioning: CS Intensity Effects. Psychol Rec 30, 229–236 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394673
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03394673