RESURGENCE OF TWO-RESPONSE SEQUENCES PUNISHED BY POINT-LOSS RESPONSE COST IN HUMANS

Resumen

 The present experiment examined in humans whether two–response sequences resurged after they had been eliminated by response–cost punishment. Undergraduates’ touches to two of eight squares (target response sequence) presented on a computer touch screen produced points exchangeable for money arranged according to a variable–interval (VI) 10–s schedule. The response sequence then lost points while another two–response sequence (alternative response sequence) was reinforced under a VI 2–s schedule. When reinforcement of the alternative sequence was discontinued (resurgence test phase), the target sequence recurred. Rates of the target sequence during the resurgence test phase for these participants were comparable to those for participants whose reinforced target sequence had been extinguished without punishment, and higher than those for participants whose target sequence had not been reinforced. Previous experiments examined resurgence of single responses punished by electric shock in rats, and the results were mixed. The present results demonstrate resurgence of two–response sequences punished by point–loss response cost in humans.