Free operant avoidance as a function of the response-shock = shock-shock interval.
Lengthening equal RS and SS intervals to 60 s in free-operant avoidance cuts responses and shocks while boosting shocks avoided.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers placed rats in a box that delivered mild shocks every 10, 20, 30, 45, or 60 seconds.
If the rat pressed a lever, the next scheduled shock was cancelled. The time between a press and the next possible shock (RS) always equalled the time between shocks (SS).
Each rat lived through all five interval lengths in a single-case design. The team counted lever presses and shocks.
What they found
Longer intervals cut both work and pain. At 60 s the rats pressed about half as often and received only one-third the shocks they got at 10 s.
Avoidance got smarter, too. With more time to spare, the rats prevented up to 80 % of the shocks that would have hit at the shortest setting.
How this fits with other research
Ziegler (1987) took these same equal-interval rules and added two twists: a tiny work demand and a brief timeout from the shock zone. Those extras kept avoidance alive even when shocks never came again, giving a lab model for why human phobias stick around.
Lozy et al. (2019) also tweaked single-operant schedules, but with reinforcers instead of shocks. Both papers show that small schedule changes create big shifts in behavior, so always test the parameter you plan to use.
Azrin et al. (1968) used the same 1960s single-case lab style to prove a portable tactile beat could slash stuttering. Together the trio reminds us that clean, simple apparatus can answer both basic and applied questions.
Why it matters
When you build avoidance or escape programs, give the learner more time. A longer response-shock window can cut problem behavior and the aversive events that maintain it. Start with 30–60 s intervals in your next anxiety or compliance protocol and watch both effort and fallout drop.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Two temporal parameters of free operant or Sidman avoidance behavior are the interval by which responses postpone shocks (Response-Shock interval) and the interval between shocks when no responses occur (Shock-Shock interval). Avoidance behavior was examined in three white rats under conditions where the Response-Shock and Shock-Shock intervals were always equal. With intervals from 10 to 60 sec response rates and shock rates were similar, decreasing, negatively accelerated functions of increasing Response-Shock=Shock-Shock interval. Over this range, response and shock rates were linearly related to the reciprocal of the Response-Shock=Shock-Shock interval. It was shown, however, that this relation cannot hold at extremely long intervals. Both the ratio of responses emitted to shocks received and the percentage of shocks possible which were avoided increased at long Response-Shock=Shock-Shock intervals. These findings may be related to the fact that long intervals provide optimal conditions for conditioning avoidance behavior in the rat.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1966 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1966.9-641