Wyatt W J
Percept Mot Skills. 1978 Feb;46(1):91-4. doi: 10.2466/pms.1978.46.1.91.
A profoundly retarded 28-yr.-old female was trained to avoid an aversive but harmless shock to the foot by withdrawing the foot upon presentation of a visual cue. She was later unable to learn to avoid the shock consistently upon presentation of an auditory cue, confirming the ward staff's contention that she had a hearing disability. The audiometric technique using negative reinforcement bridges the problems of (1) difficulty in finding positive reinforcers for patients of low functioning and (2) satiation which may result from the continued use of positive reinforcers. The use of aversive stimuli raises ethical concerns. The growing trend in research is that aversive stimuli are permissible for individuals for whom positive techniques have not been effective and when used by trained professionals under careful review.
一名28岁的重度智障女性接受训练，通过在看到视觉提示时缩回脚来避免对脚部造成厌恶但无害的电击。后来，当出现听觉提示时，她无法学会持续避免电击，这证实了病房工作人员认为她有听力障碍的观点。使用负强化的听力测试技术解决了以下问题：（1）为功能低下的患者寻找正强化物存在困难；（2）持续使用正强化物可能导致满足感。厌恶刺激的使用引发了伦理问题。研究的趋势是，对于那些正强化技术无效的个体，以及在经过仔细审查由训练有素的专业人员使用时，厌恶刺激是允许的。
