Abstract
Variable ratio reinforced behavior was observed in five female college students in daily sessions in which no punishment, continuous punishment, and intermittent (VI) punishment were programmed. In three of the five Ss, punishment shock intensities strong enough to suppress all responding under continuous punishment had no effect when VI punishment was programmed at mean intervals ranging from 15.0 sec. to.8 sec. Only one S showed partial suppression, while all others showed either no suppression or complete suppression under VI punishment. The all or none suppression was related to the fact that partial suppression has virtually no effect in reducing shock frequency on the VI punishment schedule, although such suppression may result in substantial loss of reinforcement on the VR schedule.
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This research was supported by grants MH 08430 from NIMH and RF 62:616 from the University of Wisconsin.
The help of Samuel Katchigan and John Uhlarik, who collected the data for this study, is gratefully acknowledged.
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Kaufman, A. Intermittent punishment of responding maintained by variable ratio reinforcement. Psychon Sci 4, 307–308 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03342309
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03342309