Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Orienting and defense responses to punishment: effects on learning.

M T Balaban1, D L Rhodes, A Neuringer

  • 1Department of Psychology, Reed College, Portland, OR 97202.

Biological Psychology
|June 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary

Aversive punishment, involving electric shocks, hindered learning compared to informational punishment. Defense responses to shocks interfered with orienting responses crucial for complex task acquisition.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Humble behaviorism.

The Behavior analyst·2012
Same author

Behaviorism: Methodological, radical, assertive, skeptical, ethological, modest, humble, and evolving.

The Behavior analyst·2012
Same author

Stability and variability in extinction.

Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes·2001
Same author

Comparing choices and variations in people and rats: two teaching experiments.

Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc·2000
Same author

Pigeon reaction time, Hick's law, and intelligence.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2000
Same author

Reinforcing variability in adolescents with autism.

Journal of applied behavior analysis·2000

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Learning Sciences

Background:

  • Learning often involves feedback mechanisms to correct errors.
  • Punishment can be informational or aversive, with differing potential impacts on cognitive processes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the differential effects of informational versus aversive punishment on learning.
  • To explore the physiological responses (skin conductance, cardiac activity) associated with each punishment type during learning.

Main Methods:

  • Two groups of students learned letter-number sequences, receiving a tone for errors.
  • One group (aversive punishment) received an electric shock after the tone 20% of the time; the other (informational punishment) received only the tone.
  • Physiological measures included skin conductance responses (SCRs) and cardiac interbeat intervals.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Informational punishment subjects showed orienting responses, while aversive punishment subjects exhibited defense responses.
  • Aversive punishment subjects had significantly lower sequence completion rates and higher error rates.
  • No differences were observed in tonic arousal levels between groups.

Conclusions:

  • Defense responses to aversive stimuli may disrupt the orienting responses necessary for efficient learning.
  • Informational punishment facilitates learning by allowing for the development of orienting responses to error signals.