1. Aversive Control of Behavior: Punishment & Avoidance Lesson 16

2. Life: The School of Hard Knocks n Learning with aversive stimuli l pain l sickness n Positive Punishment l B  aversive outcome n Negative RFT l escape & avoidance n Classical conditioning l pair neutral stimulus w/ shock ~

3. B  aversive S R n What type of punishment? l Positive punishment n Difficult to do human, ethics l but some human evidence l Mostly animal research ~

4. Factors that influence efficacy n Punishment is associative process n Trials effect l punished B  aversive S R l greater suppression n Intensity (magnitude) l greater intensity  greater efficacy n Delay of punishment l longer delay  less effective ~

5. Factors that influence efficacy n History of punishment l start w/ weak ineffective punishment l more intense punishment less effective l Habituation occurs n Alternate routes of reinforcement l Provide alternate responses to gain reward after punishment l increases effectiveness ~

6. Human Case Study n NOT an experiment n 9 month old boy w/ chronic vomiting l near death before treatment n Recorded precise muscle activity l identified muscle activity that preceded vomiting ~

7. Procedure n Vomiting muscle activity observed n Punished w/ shock l produced startle response l but not crying n Results l Vomiting eliminated after 5 trials over 3 days n BUT… ~

8. Potential Side Effects n Unintended & undesirable n Response generalization l other responses to aversive stimuli l anger/fear/aggression l avoidance n Global effects l can be worse than behavior punished ~

9. Monkey Study n Learn to push button to get food l opens a door n Put toy snake in food dish l quit pushing button after a few trials n Side effects l lost interest in eating l lost social status lower in hierarchy ~

10. Painful Stimuli & Aggression n College women n 1 teaches another words l 1 group of teachers hand in warm water l Other while hand in ice water n Results l Ice water group  verbally aggressive ~

11. Alternatives to Positive Punishment n Time-out l Remove opportunities for RFT n Response cost l Fines, loss of privileges n Differential RFT of … l Other Behaviors (DRO) l Incompatible Behaviors (DRI) ~

12. Escape & Avoidance: Negative Reinforcement

13. Escape / Avoidance n Shuttle Box l 2 compartments l Can jump over barrier n Electrified grid n Speaker/light l emits signal ~

14. Shuttlebox speaker Tone on

15. Shuttlebox speaker Shock on

16. Shuttlebox speaker Jumps barrier

17. Shuttlebox speaker n What is outcome?

18. Shuttlebox n Jumping over barrier terminates shock l More trials  responds more quickly l learns to avoid shock ~

19. Shuttlebox speaker Tone on

20. Shuttlebox speaker Jumps barrier before shock on

21. Shuttlebox speaker n What is outcome?

22. Shuttlebox Results n Early trials: escapes shock l After may trials: avoidance n Shift from l escape  avoidance l Why? ~

23. Mowerer’s 2 Process Theory (1947) n 2 processes involved in escape/avoidance l Operant & Classical Conditioning n Early trials  escape (operant) shock (S D )  jumping (B)  escape (S R ) n Later trials  avoidance (CC involved) Tone (CS) evokes fear (CER) l B  reduces fear drive l strengthens response ~

24. So... n Avoidance = escape from fear l fear is classically conditioned l Tone = S D & CS n Avoidance  no shock? l Does extinction occur? n 2 process view suggest cyclical performance ~

25. Observed performance Hi Lo # of trials avoidance continues Avoidance Escape n But extinction does NOT occur ~

26. Avoidance & Extinction n Avoidance behavior l Persists l Resistant to extinction n Explanation? l failure to avoid is punished l Cognitive Theory (Annau & Kamin, 1961) l Conservation of Anxiety Theory (Solomon & Wynne, 1954) ~

27. Expectancy Theory n Cognitive theory n Early trials consistent w/ 2 process l tone  Fear  avoidance n More experience  expectancy l expectancy = no shock n Avoidance (B)  satisfying outcome l Avoidance response strengthened l Difficult to extinguish ~

28. Conservation of Anxiety Theory n Fear of CS doesn’t fully extinguish l Immediate avoidance  short latency n Delayed avoidance l Exposed CS longer l No extinction for later portion CS l Strengthens fear of early CS n Behavior Therapy l Exposure to sequential CSs l Exposure therapy - fear hierarchy ~