Two groups of rhesus monkeys acquired a discriminated avoidance response (lever-pressing) under different training procedures. One group was trained using a conventional escape-avoidance procedure for 6 training sessions. The other group received one escape-avoidance session following 5 training sessions with stimulus-change reinforcement in which lever pressing momentarily terminated the light-tone combination later used as CS during avoidance training. Experience with stimulus change reinforcement facilitated acquisition of avoidance responding. Both groups showed self-punishment during extinction and did not differ significantly on this dimension.
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