Abstract
The effect of an explicit buzzer CS upon self-punitive locomotor behavior was investigated in an experiment utilizing a fully automated two-way locomotor device. Two groups of rats received shock-escape training and extinction, with or without the CS. During extinction, half of the animals in each group were shocked in the middle segment of the alley while the other half were given no-shock regular extinction trials. Rats trained and extinguished with the CS completed more extinction trials than those trained and extinguished without a CS, while rats punished during extinction completed more trials than rats given regular extinction trials. In addition, the punishment-produced facilitation of extinction performance was greater for rats trained and extinguished with the CS than for those without the CS.
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This research, completed at the University of Oregon Medical School, was supported by a National Institute of Mental Health Research Grant (MH 23607) awarded to Judson S. Brown. Requests for reprints should be sent to Newell K. Eaton, US Army Research Institute, Ft. Knox, Kentucky 40121. The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army position, unless so designated by other authorized documents.
Judson S. Brown sponsors this paper and takes full editorial responsibility for its contents.
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Eaton, N.K., Crowell, C.R. Two-way self-punitive locomotor behavior. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 9, 73–76 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336934
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336934