Abstract
Three experiments investigated the effects of stimulus change during extinction on self-punitive behavior. In Experiment 1, changing alley brightness cues in all three segments of the alley prior to extinction eliminated self-punitive behavior. That is, subjects given shock in the third alley segment during extinction did not differ from nonshocked subjects in alley speed or in the number of trials to extinction. In Experiment 2, with shock also administered in the third alley segment, self-punitive behavior was eliminated when the stimulus change was made in segment 1 or in segments 1 and 2 but was obtained when the change occurred in segment 2 or in the lower startbox. In Experiment 3, shock was administered in the second alley segment. Self-punitive behavior was not obtained when the lower startbox cues were changed but was obtained with stimulus change in the upper startbox or in segment 1. The results are consistent with an expanded version of the Mowrer-Brown conditioned-fear hypothesis.
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Perconte, S.T., Benson, B.A. & Butler, D.L. Effects of stimulus change in prepunishment alley segments on self-punitive behavior. Animal Learning & Behavior 9, 21–27 (1981). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212021
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03212021