Abstract: | Determined effects of moderate and intense punishment on aggressive behavior. Following either 15 or 45 massed presentations to a mirror, 35 Siamese fighting fish were punished for aggressive display (gill extension). Intense shock punishment led to complete suppression of the display. Recovery of the display depended on the level of habituation, i.e., only the fish given 15 mirror presentations prior to punishment showed recovery. Given "room" for an increase, a moderate level of punishment led to longer displays. A 2nd experiment with 6 Ss confirmed this latter finding with spaced (daily) blocks of trials. (23 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |