The behaviors economics systems are defined as different relationships between
consumption and the way the organism gets. There are typically two types of economic
systems: a closed economy, where the subject’s daily food ration only could be acquired
in the experimental session, and the open economy in which, the subject receive a
complementary food after the session. This study aimed to investigate the effects of
punishment on positive responses under different economic systems. Were performed
two experiments. In Experiment 1 two Rattus norvegicus, Wistar, males, deprived of
water for 24 hours, divided between the two economies: A1 (open) and F1 (closed). The
aversive stimulus was a Hot air blast (HAB) for 5 seconds and contingent for each
pressure response to the bar (RPB). Each subject went through the following phases:
Operant Level, Modeling RPB, Conditioning in CRF, Punishment and Reconditioning.
In Experiment 2 were used four Rattus norvegicus, Wistar, male, deprived of water for
24 hours, divided into two pairs: FAF (Closed / Open / Closed) and AFA (Open /
Closed / Open). The aversive stimulus was a shock of 1.3mA for five seconds and
contingent for each RPB. During the experiment, both passed by the following phases:
Operant Level, Modeling RPB, Conditioning in FR10, Punishment (in one economy),
Reconditioning, Punishment (in an economy different from above), another
Reconditioning, finally, a session Punishment the initial economy. Data from two
experiments showed an average suppression in responding during the phases of
punishment compared to the stages of Conditioning/Reconditioning, in both economies
and in all subjects: 48.7% (F1), 96.6% (A1 ), 99.9%, 99.9% and 89.8% (FAF1), 93.2%,
99.4% and 84.8% (FAF2), 99.8%, 83.6% and 95% (AFA1), 92.3%, 90.9% and 91.6%
(AFA2). These results demonstrate that both the shock and the JAQ functioned as
aversive stimuli, but the difference between the two economies was higher in subjects
who had answered punished with the JAQ.
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