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Punished and Nonpunished Responding in A Multiple Schedule in Humans: A Brief Report

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Abstract

Four male subjects responded on a multiple schedule in which responding was maintained by a random interval 20-sec (RI20) schedule of point presentation. Responding was suppressed in alternating components by an added variable ratio 30 (VR30) schedule of point subtractions. Each component was accompanied by distinctive stimulus lights. Subjects were exposed to the multiple schedule from the initial session. Two subjects experienced four 50-min sessions daily (Experiment 1) and the other two subjects participated in one 50-min session daily (Experiment 2). Once responding in the punished components had stabilized, responding in the nonpunished components continued to increase across sessions. Nonpunished responding did not stabilize even after as many as 36 sessions. These results are discussed in the context of previous studies using animals which employed multiple schedules with punished and nonpunished response contingencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1300 Moursund, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Robert H. Bennett & Don R. Cherek

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  1. Robert H. Bennett
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  2. Don R. Cherek
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Additional information

This research was supported by USPHS Grant DA 04044. The authors thank Paul Prasco and Ben Stratton for technical assistance in collection of the data. The authors also thank Richard A. Meisch, Greg Lemaire, and Ralph Spiga for their comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.

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Bennett, R.H., Cherek, D.R. Punished and Nonpunished Responding in A Multiple Schedule in Humans: A Brief Report. Psychol Rec 40, 187–196 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399557

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