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THE EFFECT OF SHOCK INTENSITY ON CONCURRENT AND SINGLE‐KEY RESPONDING IN CONCURRENT‐CHAIN SCHEDULES<sup>1</sup>

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of BehaviorPublished 1 January 1967Open access
Howard Rachlin
Citations25
SJR quartileQ2
SJR score0.94
SNIP0.97
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TL;DR

In general, shock was found to affect behavior most drastically when behavior could, in turn, affect the rate of shock.

Abstract

Pigeons were trained to respond in a two-link, concurrent-chain schedule. Pecks on each key during the concurrent initial links occasionally produced a 5-min terminal link, during which only that key was operative. Food reinforcement and various intensities of shock were scheduled during the terminal links. When shock was contingent on response, the effect of shock was greater on terminal-link responding than on initial-link responding. When shock was independent of response, the effect was reversed, with larger changes in initial-link responding than terminal-link responding. In general, shock was found to affect behavior most drastically when behavior could, in turn, affect the rate of shock.

Keywords

PsychologyAgricultural and Biological SciencesNeuroscience