Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats
Published on: February 20, 2019
Experimental psychology: event timing turns punishment to reward
Hiromu Tanimoto1, Martin Heisenberg, Bertram Gerber
1Lehrstuhl für Genetik und Neurobiologie, Biozentrum, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany. hiromut@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
Abstract:
Can relief from pain be a pleasure? If so, noxious events should--despite their typically aversive effects--also have a 'rewarding' after-effect. Through training fruitflies by using an electric shock paired with an odour, we show here that the shock can condition either avoidance of this odour or approach to it. These opposing behaviours depend on the relative timing of the shock and odour presentations during training, and indicate that a shock can act as either an aversive reinforcer or an appetitive one.
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