The vicious circle phenomenon: A result of measurement artifact.

Self-punitive avoidance behavior in the Mongolian gerbil

“…Since shock punishment had a stronger effect following aperiod without shock, rather than avoidance training, in which shocks occur more frequently, this phenomenon may be related to some type of contrast or adaptation-level effect. Delude (1969) concluded that the vicious circle phenomenon was a result of "measurement artifact," basing his argument on failure to find statistically reliable differences between punished and nonpunished rats on preshock response measures. However, under more optimal conditions, including a longer prepunishment zone, Siegel, Melvin, & Wagner (1971) found facilitative effects of punishment in the preshock region.…”

Self-punitive behavior: Nonreinforcement procedure of extinction

“…The facilitative effect of punishment has been argued to be a function of the dependent measure used. Delude (1969), for example, found no significant difference between punished and non punished conditions when startbox latency was used as a measure of SPB. In the present experiment, SPB was shown with both startbox speed and trials-to-extinction measures, contradicting the argument proposed by Delude.…”

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

“…When fear of the punishing stimulus becomes stronger, however, a change from responding to a failure to respond should quickly occur after a brief period of vacillation. Several experimenters (Delude, 1969;Seward & Raskin, 1960;Seward, King, Chow & Shiflett, 1965;Whiteis, 1956) induite par la punition n'est facility que si Ton ne controle pas la peur directement conditionnee au declenchement du stimulus punitif, sans quoi la punition inhibe la reponse, excepte dans la situation ou 1'animal peut disposer concurremment d'un moyen d'executer la reponse apprise sans etre puni. La discussion situe ces resultats dans le contexte d'un theorie de resolution de conflits.…”