ABSTRACT
This chapter describes two important experimental paradigms, escape and avoidance, as procedures with a characteristic outcome. It seeks to identify basic processes of operant and classical conditioning, to describe their action and interaction in particular situations. The chapter demonstrates the applicability of these behavioral processes isolated in the laboratory to significant issues in human life. Unlike positive reinforcement, the use of aversive contingencies is strongly linked to ethical concerns. The chapter presents a review of the operation and effects of aversive contingencies. Discussion of aversive contingencies invariably raises ethical issues. It is important to remember that aversive contingencies exist in the physical as well as the social environment of everyone, and we should therefore make efforts to understand their operation. In avoidance learning, an aversive stimulus is programmed to occur unless the operant response occurs. A variety of different procedures have shown this contingency be effective in modifying the behavior of nonhuman animals.
