Abstract
Recent research on avoidance behavior provided evidence that such behavior can function as a negative occasion setter. We tested this hypothesis further by investigating whether the modulatory function of a stimulus occasion setter transfers selectively to a relation previously modulated by an avoidance behavior, and whether the modulatory function of an avoidance behavior transfers selectively to a relation previously modulated by a stimulus occasion setter. The three experiments reported in this article provided evidence to support this hypothesis. Furthermore, the results of Experiment 1 suggested that the presence of counterconditioning trials is not a necessary condition for an avoidance behavior to function as a negative occasion setter. All three reported experiments support the occasionsetting account of avoidance behavior.
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This research was funded by Grant BOF01100805 from Ghent University.
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Declercq, M., De Houwer, J. Evidence for the interchangeability of an avoidance behavior and a negative occasion setter. Learning & Behavior 36, 290–300 (2008). https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.36.4.290
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.36.4.290