Allan R W, Matthews T J
Department of Psychology, Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania 18042-1781.
J Exp Anal Behav. 1991 Nov;56(3):427-43. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1991.56-427.
Two experiments examined the effects of a negative (setback) response contingency on key pecking engendered by a changing light-intensity stimulus clock (ramp stimulus) signaling fixed-time 30-s food deliveries. The response contingency specified that responses would immediately decrease the light-intensity value, and, because food was delivered only after the highest intensity value was presented, would delay food delivery by 1 s for each response. The first experiment examined the acquisition and maintenance of responding for a group trained with the contingency in effect and for a group trained on a response-independent schedule with the ramp stimulus prior to introduction of the contingency. The first group acquired low rates of key pecking, and, after considerable exposure to the contingency, those rates were reduced to low levels. The rates of responding for the second group were reduced very rapidly (within four to five trials) after introduction of the setback contingency. For both groups, rates of responding increased for all but 1 bird when the contingency was removed. A second experiment compared the separate effects of each part of the response contingency. One group was exposed only to the stimulus setback (stimulus only), and a second group was exposed only to the delay of the reinforcer (delay only). The stimulus-only group's rates of responding were immediately reduced to moderate levels, but for most of the birds, these rates recovered quickly when the contingency was removed. The delay-only groups's rates decreased after several trials, to very low levels, and recovery of responding took several sessions once the contingency was removed. The results suggest that (a) sign-tracking behavior elicited by an added clock stimulus may be reduced rapidly and persistently when a setback contingency is imposed, and (b) the success of the contingency is due both to response-dependent stimulus change and response-dependent alterations in the frequency of food delivery. The operation of the contingency is compared with the effects of secondary reinforcement and punishment procedures.
两项实验研究了负面（挫折）反应偶联对由变化的光强度刺激时钟（斜坡刺激）引发的按键啄击行为的影响，该刺激时钟指示固定时间为30秒的食物投放。反应偶联规定，反应会立即降低光强度值，并且由于食物仅在呈现最高强度值后才投放，所以每次反应会使食物投放延迟1秒。第一个实验考察了一组在偶联生效时接受训练的被试以及一组在引入偶联之前先在与反应无关的时间表上接受斜坡刺激训练的被试的反应习得和维持情况。第一组获得了较低的按键啄击率，并且在大量接触偶联之后，这些比率降至低水平。第二组的反应率在引入挫折偶联后迅速降低（在四到五次试验内）。对于两组而言，当偶联被移除时，除了1只鸟之外，所有鸟的反应率都增加了。第二个实验比较了反应偶联各部分的单独影响。一组仅暴露于刺激挫折（仅刺激），另一组仅暴露于强化物延迟（仅延迟）。仅刺激组的反应率立即降至中等水平，但对于大多数鸟来说，当偶联被移除时，这些比率很快恢复。仅延迟组的反应率在几次试验后下降到非常低的水平，并且在偶联被移除后，反应的恢复需要几个阶段。结果表明：（a）当施加挫折偶联时，由添加的时钟刺激引发的符号追踪行为可能会迅速且持续地减少；（b）偶联的成功既归因于与反应相关的刺激变化，也归因于与反应相关的食物投放频率变化。将偶联的操作与二级强化和惩罚程序的效果进行了比较。
