Punished and Classical-Trial Extinction of Avoidance in Gerbils following Partial and Continuous Reinforcement

Summary —Four groups of gerbils received either partial or continuous reinforcement during avoidance acquisition followed by either classical trials (CS-US pairings) or punishment in extinction. Partial reinforcement produced greater resistance to both classical-trials extinction and punishment than continuous reinforcement. Punishment produced more rapid extinction than classical trials following continuous reinforcement, while following partial reinforcement, punishment facilitated performance relative to classical trials. The results were related to the effects of delay of punishment, delay of CS termination, and the phenomenon of self-punitive behavior.