Learning self-punitive running

Abstract

Escape-trained rats exposed to shock interposed between start box and goal box in a runway persist in running through the shock zone although the start box and part of the alley before the shock zone are never electrified after the original escape training. If self-punitive running is motivated by fear conditioned during escape training and reinforced by fear reduction during punishment testing, it should be possible to obtain a learning curve in the first few trials of this extinction-with-punishment paradigm. To detect such learning it may be necessary to limit the amount of escape training prior to testing so that initial running, based on retention of escape training, is slow enough that an improvement in the early extinction trials can be observed. In this experiment rats were given just enough escape training one day to insure running from start box to goal box on the first trial the next day. MethodThe apparatus was the masochism alley described by Brown, Martin, & Morrow (1964). It consists of a duplex start box, a 6-ft alley, and a large goal box. start box and alley are painted gray; the goal box is black. The experiment was run in two replications which differed only with respect to the use of an intermittent buzzer beginning 7 sec before the floor of the upper level of the start box dropped depositing the' rat on the grid floor in the lower half of the start box. This variable had no effect on escape performance, so the two replications were combined.The Ss were handled for two days. On the third day the escape response was shaped by: (1) two trials with start box connected directly to goal box; (2) three trials with 2-ft segment between start and goal boxes; (3) three trials with 4-ft segment; (4) two trials with the full alley. Shock was 45 V for the first five trials and 50 V for the last five trials. Two Ss were discarded for difficulty in handling and one for experimental error during shaping prior to assignment of Ss to groups. The surviving Ss were 22 female hooded rats 81-85 days old when shaped. They were roughly matched in pairs on the basis of speed in running the first 4 ft of the alley on the last shaping trial, then one of each pair was randomly asSigned to each group. On the next day, the control Psycbon.

Punishment following escape and avoidance training

“…During extinction, running faster reduces the punishment duration. This may be the reinforcement mechanism responsible for the learning of self-punitive behavior (cf., Beecroft & Bouska, 1967).…”

Self-punitive avoidance behavior in the mouse

“…In addition to the comparative features of this experiment, we examined the progressive increase in running speed over punished extinction (PE) trials-the learning of self-punitive running-noted in a number of investigations (Beecroft & Bouska, 1967;Melvin & Martin, 1966;Melvin & Smith, 1967). Separate speed measures for preshock and shock sections of the alley were employed, allowing an assessment of the differential contributions of the shock punishment and conditioned fear to the "learning effect.…”

Avoidable punishment and self-punitive behavior

“…Brown, in press, for a thorough discussion of the literature ), it has been observed that running speed increases during punished extinction (Melvin & Smith, 1967;Beecroft & Bouska, 1967a;Beecroft, 1967;Beecroft & Brown, 1967). If there is a positive relationship between running speed and resistance to extinction, as seems likely, then any manipulation which increases running speed for the average S should also increase the persistence of the running response.…”