Abstract
The inverse relation between US intensity and shuttle avoidance performance has been consistently demonstrated when warning-signal termination (WST) is response contingent. The more recent demonstration that a feedback signal (FS) can effectively replace WST during acquisition, and the discovery that acquisition is most rapid when an FS and WST are correlated stimulus events, prompted the present experiment. The reinforcing effectiveness of three feedback conditions, WST, an FS, and both events combined, was assessed for three different shock levels. The results indicated that when either WST or an FS was response contingent, avoidance responding was inversely related to US intensity. When WST and FS onset were correlated, avoidance responding was unaffected by increases in US intensity. These results support a position that WST and an FS reinforce through different mechanisms whose reinforcing effects summate when both events occur together.
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Cicala, G.A., Owen, J.W. & Hill, D. Successful shuttle avoidance learning with high-intensity USs is sustained if a feedback signal accompanies warning-signal termination. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 7, 533–535 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337274
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337274