Abstract
Discontinuing positive reinforcement has been shown to elicit fighting in hooded rats, and to be associated with a transitory increase in the vigor and rate of the previously reinforced operant. The present study shows that the tendency for response frequency to increase and the tendency to attack covary following extinction-onset. It is also shown that, as the augmented response rate decreases, the tendency to attack diminishes and that the former change precedes the latter change.
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This research was supported in part by research grant GB 1912 from the National Science Foundation.
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Thompson, T., Bloom, W. Aggressive behavior and extinction-induced response-rate increase. Psychon Sci 5, 335–336 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328426
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328426