Punishment of abient responding with and without a non-punished alternative available: A conflict-resolution view.

Abstract

The effects of punishment applied during the enactment of a learned abient response were evaluated in a double-alley apparatus. Punishment-induced response facilitation was found only when fear directly conditioned to the onset of the punishing stimulus was not controlled. Otherwise, punishment was found to inhibit responding except in the situation in which a non-punished means of performing the learned response was concurrently available. These findings are discussed in the context of a conflict-resolution theory.