Abstract
Following 45 placements to a wet-mash reward, groups of rats received 0, 10, 20, or 40 frustration-conditioning trials during which primary frustration was paired with the apparatus cues plus a distinctive CS. Other groups received 0, 10, or 20 pairings of primary frustration and apparatus cues alone. In the CS condition, learning of a hurdle-jumping response which terminated the CS was nonmonotonically related to the number of frustration-conditioning trials on the first of 2 test days. Performance increased with the number of conditioning trials up to 20, then decreased following 40 such trials. Among groups which did not receive the CS during conditioning or testing, only subjects in the zero-pairing condition showed evidence of learning. The results were interpreted as supporting the conclusion that conditioned frustration had acquired aversive motivational properties since its effectiveness was found to vary systematically with the number of conditioning trials. It was further concluded that the superiority of hurdle-jumping performance by CS groups relative to NCS groups was the result of both a higher level of frustrative motivation and greater frustration reduction following the response for the former groups.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Amsel, A. The role of frustrative nonreward in noncontinuous reward situations.Psychological Bulletin, 1958,55, 102–119.
Brooks, C. I., &Goldman, J. A. Changes in the intensity of primary frustration during continuous nonreward.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1971,90, 153–155.
Brown, J. S. The motivation of behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.
Daly, H. B. Learning of a hurdle-jump response to escape cues paired with reduced reward or frustrative nonreward.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1969,79, 146–157.
Daly, H. B. Combined effects of fear and frustration on acquisition of a hurdle-jump response.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1970,83, 89–93.
McAllister, D. E., McAllister, W. R., Brooks, C. I., &Goldman, J. A. Magnitude and shift of reward in instrumental aversive learning in rats.Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1972,80, 490–501.
Wagner, A. R. Conditioned frustration as a learned drive.Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1963,66, 142–148.
Winer, B. J. Statistical principles in experimental design. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1962.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Senkowski, P.C., Vogel, V.A. Effects of number of CS-US pairings on the strength of conditioned frustration in rats. Animal Learning & Behavior 4, 421–426 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03214433
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03214433