Abstract
In two experiments, gerbils that were punished for eating exhibited an increase in only the most probable of several ongoing alternative responses (running) during sessions when eating was suppressed. These results support previously suggested punishment and implicit avoidance rules for predicting the effects of response-contingent punishment in multiple-response baseline procedures. Most subjects also exhibited a decline in unpunished digging responses during punishment sessions. Neither this decline in the digging behavior nor the amount of increase in running behavior supported a quantitative constant proportion rule which predicts that each of the unpunished responses will increase to occupy a constant proportion of the time available to it.
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