Operation analyses, for which behavioral and environmental events are translated into reinforcement schedules, indicate that winter depression and spring irritability reported by people living in northern climates are dominated by four paradigms. They are (1) a shift in the ratio of negative to positive stimuli, (2) stimulus redundancy and satiation, (3) coerced hypoactivity or attenuation of free operant behavior, and (4) conditioned suppression or anxiety due to the progressive escalation of negative stimulus presentations. The chronic effects of these schedules on the behaviors of people living in cold climate during the winter season are discussed.
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