Abstract
To study effects of punishment on bar pressing, discrete trials with a fixed-ratio schedule were accompanied by a changing noise. 3 trial spacings (1, 10, 50 trials per day) and 2 shock levels (80 and 100 v.) were combined factorially. Twenty-four food-deprived rats, trained to press a retractable bar 19 times for a pellet, had 100 acquisition trials, 50 shock and food trials, and 50 recovery trials (food, no shock). Punishment reduced response rate according to intensity administered (p < .01), and spaced trials increased resistance to shock (p < .01). No recovery occurred during punished trials and no elation effect when shock stopped. Results concurred with alley studies but differed from some operant experiments.

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