Balancing social acceptability with treatment effectiveness of an intrusive procedure: a case report

The debate over social acceptability of intrusive procedures has led some school districts to adopt policies allowing punishment for only the most extreme forms of destructive behavior. We investigated the effectiveness of selectively implementing punishment for only the most severe topographies of aggression and property destruction, while less extreme behaviors were ignored. Results indicated that severe behaviors were reduced to near-zero levels only when both severe and less severe behaviors were similarly punished.     

Punishment.

The effectiveness of punishment as a controller of instrumental behavior varies with a wide variety of known parameters, including intensity of punishment, the temporal arrangements of reward and punishment, the strength of the response to be punished, the age of the S, and many others. It is theoretically advantageous to consider active and passive avoidance learning to be similar processes; a 2-process learning theory is of value. The "wide-spread belief that punishment is unimportant because it does not really weaken habits; that it pragmatically is a poor controller of behavior; that it is extremely cruel and unnecessary; and that it is a technique leading to neurosis and worse" is questioned. Areas of experimentation which "might be especially interesting or useful in furthering our understanding of the effects of punishment" are indicated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impairment of reversal learning in the rat: A mediational explanation.

Examined the finding that reversal learning is impaired when rats are both punished and rewarded for incorrect responses. In Exp. I with 40 male Holtzman rats, it was found that (a) it was necessary for punishment and reward to be administered during both original and reversal learning for such impairment to occur; (b) similar but weaker impairment occurred when nonreward was administered during both original and reversal learning; and (c) reversal learning occurred most rapidly when the consequence of an error (punishment or nonreward) was switched between training and reversal. It is suggested that reversal learning reinstated the emotional state present during original learning and that impairment occurred because the associations formed to that state in training interfered with the behavior required during reversal. Exp. II with 22 Ss confirmed predictions from this hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspectives on the effects of corporal punishment: Comment on Gershoff (2002).

Comments on the article by E. T. Gershoff (see record 2002-01514-001) which discussed corporal punishment by parents and associated child behaviors and experiences. The current author states that parental use of corporal punishment has been a contentious child-rearing topic for thousands of years. E. T. Gershoff s (2002) meta-analyses undoubtedly will rekindle the debate over whether parents should spank their children. The quality of the existing data is discussed as well as several surprising findings from the meta-analyses. The effects of corporal punishment are then considered from the perspectives of learning theory, socialization theory, and the child's point of view. Her ecological-process model is then evaluated in light of these perspectives. Research directions and social policy implications are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction to punishment, reflectivity, and passive avoidance learning in extraverts.

Passive avoidance learning occupies a central role in accounts of disinhibited behavior, ranging from psychopaths' persistent criminality (Hare, 1970) to extraverts' gregariousness (Gray, 1972). To explore the mechanism underlying passive avoidance deficits, we assessed the relation of extraversion, neuroticism, and response latency after punishment to passive avoidance learning by using two successive go/no go discrimination tasks. The tasks were designed to examine two aspects of subjects' reactions to punishment: response speed on trials immediately following punishment (Experiment 1) and time to terminate punishment feedback between successive trials (i.e., reflectivity; Experiment 2). Consistent with previous findings, the results of Experiment 1 showed that extraverts commit more passive avoidance errors than introverts do (Newman, Widom, & Nathan, 1985) and fail to pause following punished errors (Nichols & Newman, 1986). In Experiment 2, only neurotic extraverts displayed this pattern of performance differences. In both experiments, longer pausing following punishment predicted better learning from punishment for both introverts and extraverts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reinforced alternative behavior during punishment and extinction with rats.

Evaluated the suppressive effect of a reinforced alternative response during extinction and during punishment plus extinction in a discrimination learning paradigm with 36 male hooded rats. Although reinforcement of the alternative response did augment the suppression produced by extinction and by punishment plus extinction, the recovery which resulted when reinforcement for alternative behavior was discontinued eliminated any net reduction in extinction responses. Therefore, under the particular conditions of this study, no significant overall savings in regular extinction or in punished extinction resulted from the temporary reinforcement of alternative behavior. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facilitation and nonfacilitation of active avoidance behavior of rats with septal lesions in the shuttle box and running wheel.

Hypothesized that facilitation of avoidance performance of rats with septal lesions occurs only in tasks that punish responses having the same topography as the avoidance response, such as intertrial responses, or tasks that have aversive consequences for making the avoidance response, such as a brightly illuminated safe compartment. 28 male Sprague-Dawley rats (Exp I) were trained in 2 shuttle box tasks, and 24 (Exp II) were trained in 2 running-wheel avoidance tasks under conditions of punishment or nonpunishment of intertrial responses. Ss with septal lesions performed better than controls in both the shuttle box and the wheel tasks when intertrial responses were punished. When intertrial responding was not punished, experimental and control groups did not differ in avoidance performance. Avoidance performances of punished and unpunished Ss with septal lesions did not differ from each other or from unpunished controls in either wheel or shuttle box tasks. Results are discussed in the context of the species-specific defense reaction (SSDR) avoidance theory of R. C. Bolles (see record 1970-04813-001). It is suggested that septal lesions interfere with the suppression of ineffective SSDRs. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of intensities of punishment upon children's subsequent moral judgments of behavior.

Administered either high or low punishments in the form of candy removal to 24 1st and 2nd graders ostensibly for their performance on a keypressing task. Punishment was actually presented according to a preprogrammed schedule independent of the S's responding. Interspersed with these trials, stories were told about children who resisted temptations, and the Ss assigned rewards or punishments to these characters. Following high punishment, the Ss punished the characters less frequently and intensely than after low punishment. Since modeling and reward-deservedness explanations are untenable in this study, the results are interpreted in terms of image improvement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punishment of consummatory and instrumental behavior: Effects on licking and bar pressing in rats.

Maintained licking and bar pressing in 48 male hooded rats by intermittent water reinforcement. Shock punishment was delivered for either a reinforced or nonreinforced lick or bar-press response. Punishment suppressed licking more than bar pressing. Pairing punishment with reinforcement had little effect on overall response suppression. In Exp. II with 18 Ss, Ss punished for the 1st lick after a reinforced bar press showed more response suppression than Ss punished for the reinforced bar press. Results support R. Solomon's (see record 1965-00694-001) hypothesis than consummatory behavior is more sensitive to punishment than instrumental behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shock-induced suppression and potentiation of instrumental responding by rats.

A total of 20 female Long-Evans rats trained to press a retractable lever for food in a discrete trials situation were subsequently punished for responding. After suppression of responding, response-independent shocks were presented, with intensity increased on successive daily sessions. Shock induced responding, and number of responses, increased and response latencies decreased with increasing shock intensity. Control Ss initially given uncorrelated lever-food presentations responded significantly less to response-independent shock, and their responding was not systematically related to shock intensity. Results are consistent with the view that shock induces or disinhibits prepotent responses and inconsistent with the view that, to be effective in suppressing behavior, punishment must induce responses incompatible with the punished response. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of intermittent and constant punishment on resistance to punishment in a free operant situation for the albino rat.

Trained male Wistar albino rats (10 experimental and 9 control Ss) to barpress for food reinforcement in a 2-bar cyclic response chain situation. Responding on 1 bar led also to a punishment (footshock) on either an intermittent or constant schedule. Both punishment schedules led to increased responding on the nonpunished bar and to initial response suppression followed by recovery on the punished bar. For Ss on the intermittent schedule, the response increase on the nonpunished bar was seen only after a punishment on the other bar. Similar effects were found for transfer time between the 2 bars. The effects of punishment on response to both bars were more pronounced for the intermittent punishment groups. Results are discussed in terms of the motivational constructs of A. Amsel and of R. K. Banks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punishment and the length of non-shock confinement during the extinction of avoidance.

Groups of 72 male Sprague-Dawley rats, trained to avoid in an alley with 3 distinct chambers, spent either 2, 15, or 30 sec. in the safe or goal chamber (GB) during extinction, with the remainder of the constant 150-sec intertrial interval (ITI) spent in the start box (SB). 1/2 the Ss of each group were punished (shocked) in the middle chamber during extinction, 1/2 were not. It was found that (1) the longer the goal confinement, the greater the resistance to extinction; regular extinction groups extinguished faster than the punished; and (3) there was no significant interaction between GB confinement and the punishment variable. During extinction in Exp. 2 there were 2 levels of goal confinement (2 vs. 30 sec.), equal time spent in SB in all groups, a constant ITI of 62 sec., and punishment vs. no punishment. 48 male Sprague-Dawley rats served as Ss. As anticipated, punishment prolonged extinction only for the 30-sec GB confinement; the other 3 groups extinguished at approximately the same rate. The concept of short-latency "relief" was invoked to explain this significant interaction. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, punishment, and procedural learning: A test of J. A. Gray's anxiety theory.

Effects of punishment and personality on a phylogenetically old form of knowledge acquisition, procedural learning, were studied to test J. A. Gray's (1970, 1987, 1991) theory of anxiety. Broad measures of personality (extraversion, E; neuroticism, N; and psychoticism, P) and specific measures of trait anxiety (Anx) and impulsivity (Imp) were taken. Punishment led to response invigoration, reducing reaction time latency, but this was not related to personality. A negative correlation of P and learning was observed in both punishment and control conditions. In support of Gray's theory, high Anx improved learning under punishment (and impaired learning under control), and low Anx improved learning under control (and impaired learning under punishment). These data are contrasted with H. J. Eysenck's (1967) arousal theory of personality. Results point to a new behavioral tool with which researchers can explore further the interaction of reinforcement, arousal, and personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Crime and punishment in the Army.

The relationship between crime and punishment is examined, and a dilemma in this relationship is identified. Labeling theory suggests that leaders responsible for enforcing the law respond to the crime they see by increasing punishment, under the assumption that punishment will deter crime, whereas recipients often respond to this punishment with a feeling of injustice, which then incites them to break the law more frequently, resulting in more serious problems on a delayed basis. The operation of this sort of dilemma in a US Army population was tested with cross-lagged panel correlation, using companies (groups of about 200 soldiers) as the unit of analysis. In 50 companies, company leaders punished their subordinates, particularly Blacks, as a response to the lawlessness they attributed to these subordinates, while subordinates responded to this punishment in the ensuing months with a sense of injustice and increased lawlessness. Observations are offered about the usefulness of the methodology and about the implications of the dilemma that has been identified for law-abidingness. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-injurious behavior: A behavioral analysis.

Discusses the phenomenon of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in terms of its frequency of occurrence, the people whom it effects, its various topographies, some treatment methods, and a behavioral analysis of its etiology. Studies that have used the positive reinforcement of alternative behaviors, withdrawal of positive reinforcement, extinction, and punishment to control SIB are reviewed and evaluated. Some ethical and practical considerations regarding the use of punishment for SIB are discussed. A discriminative stimulus-conditioned reinforcer hypothesis and an avoidance hypothesis are proposed to explain SIB in terms of learning principles. Some of the possible aberrant organic foundations of SIB are also discussed. (43 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Avoidance learning of perceptual defense and vigilance.

Thirty-two undergraduates were randomly assigned to defense and vigilance training groups. "This study supports the view that perceptual defense and vigilance are learned reactions to anxiety arousing stimuli." A behavior theory analysis of the learning process is proposed. "According to this analysis, perceptual defense is learned when the perceptual response to a threatening stimulus is punished and competing perceptual responses are instrumental to anxiety reduction. Competing perceptual responses when reinforced are strengthened at the expense of the critical perceptual response. Perceptual vigilance is learned when the perceptual response to a threatening stimulus is reinforced by anxiety reduction and competing perceptual responses are punished." Learning for both groups "proceeded in the absence of awareness." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punishment alters the discriminative stimulus effects of midazolam.

Experiment 1 examined the effects of punishment on the discriminative stimulus (DS) effects of midazolam (M) and pentobarbital (P) in 3 pigeons. Sessions began with a fixed-interval (Fl) 3-min schedule of food reinforcement. After 40 min, either saline (S) or 0.56 mg/kg of M was injected. A drug-discrimination (DD) component began 10 min later. Pecking the left key produced grain after S injections, whereas pecking the right key produced grain after M. Dose-response curves for M and P were obtained under these conditions and also when every 30th peck during the Fl was punished by shock. The introduction of punishment increased sensitivity to the DS effects of M and P. Experiment 2 examined whether a punishment history increases sensitivity to the DS effects of M. After DD training and testing, pecking was punished for 10 sessions. This history shifted the M dose-response curve to the left for 3 of 4 pigeons. These results emphasize the contribution of behavioral variables to the DS effects of drugs. Environmental variables appear to play a prominent role in guiding sensitivity to the subjective effects of drugs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ways to deter law violators: Effects of levels of threat and vicarious punishment on cheating.

Determined whether threat of severe, moderate, or mild sanctions and/or vicarious punishment would deter law violators from cheating, and whether law violators could be deterred as easily as law abiders. 123 undergraduates completed a sexual and a criminal behavior checklist (to differentiate law violators from abiders) and the Test Anxiety Scale. On the sexual and criminal behavior checklists, Ss indicated which specific offenses or behaviors they had committed, how many times they had committed them, and whether they had been apprehended. Ss then completed the School and College Ability Test under 7 conditions. Results show that (a) law violators cheated more than law abiders, (b) Ss cheated less if they witnessed a model apprehended for cheating, (c) law violators who were just severely threatened were the most dishonest, (d) law violators who saw a model apprehended and treated leniently cheated significantly more than law violators who saw a peer model caught and punished, and (e) high test-anxious Ss cheated more than low test-anxious Ss. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of Megan's law to juveniles.

This article examines (a) the history of registration and notification statutes for sex offenders and the concerns and legal challenges they have faced, (b) psychology's limited knowledge about normal versus abnormal sexual development, and (c) research that suggests rates of recidivism for sexual offenses may be lower for juveniles than for adults who have been discovered and received punishment and/or treatment. Although the behaviors of juvenile and adult sex offenders may appear similar, the underlying mechanisms triggering the behaviors may be different or juveniles' patterns of behaviors may be less established, accounting for some of the observed differences in recidivism rates. Although the authors recognize the critical objective of protecting victims and potential victims, this article focuses on intervention efforts with juvenile sex offenders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Richard Lester Solomon (1918–1995): Obituary.

Memorializes Richard Solomon, one of the major learning theorists of the 2nd half of the 20th century. Solomon was named the 1st James M. Skinner University Professor of Science in 1975, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, and was awarded, among other honors, the Warren Medal for research by the Society of Experimental Psychologists, the American Psychological Association Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, and the American Psychological Foundation's Award for Distinguished Teaching in Experimental Psychology. He conducted research on a broad array of topics such as word frequency and perceptual defense, children's estimation of the size of tokens, hoarding behaviors in rats, and personality ratings and sociometric patterns. His work made a major contribution to the exploration of Pavlovian conditioning. Other topics of research focused on in Solomon's laboratories included avoidance learning, learned helplessness, punishment, and the opponent-process theory of acquired motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)