Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “PUNISHMENT”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

The evolution of altruistic punishment.

Both laboratory and field data suggest that people punish noncooperators even in one-shot interactions. Although such "altruistic punishment" may explain the high levels of cooperation in human societies, it creates an evolutionary puzzle: existing models suggest that altruistic cooperation among nonrelatives is evolutionarily stable only in small groups. Thus, applying such models to the evolution of altruistic punishment leads to the prediction that people will not incur costs to punish others to provide benefits to large groups of nonrelatives. However, here we show that an important asymmetry between altruistic cooperation and altruistic punishment allows altruistic punishment to evolve in populations engaged in one-time, anonymous interactions. This process allows both altruistic punishment and altruistic cooperation to be maintained even when groups are large and other parameter values approximate conditions that characterize cultural evolution in the small-scale societies in which humans lived for most of our prehistory.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1966

Recovery of responses during mild punishment.

Pigeons were punished with mild shock for pecking during one of two components of a multiple schedule. They eventually recovered so that they pecked at the same rate during both components. In one experiment they were extinguished after recovering. When punishment was maintained during extinction, they extinguished faster during the punished, than during the unpunished component. When punishment was stopped during extinction, they extinguished faster during the unpunished than during the previously punished component. In another experiment, punishment was programmed first during neither of the two components, then during one, then during both, and finally during the other component. The extent of recovery decreased with each successive cycle. It is concluded that, if transient emotional states are ignored, reward and punishment are symmetrical in their effects.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1974

Conditioned suppression, punishment, and aversion.

Three experiments were conducted to assess the aversive properties of a visual stimulus in the presence of which one group of birds received response-contingent shock (discriminated punishment) while a yoked group of birds received non-contingent shocks (conditioned suppression). In Experiment 1, presentation of the visual stimulus contingent on key pecking reduced the response rate (conditioned punishment effect) for birds under the conditioned suppression procedure but did not reduce the response rate of birds under the discriminative punishment procedure. Non-contingent shocks also produced greater suppression of responding maintained by positive reinforcement in the presence of a visual stimulus than did response-contingent shocks. In Experiment 2, a greater shock intensity (2 mA) was used. All the differences between the two groups found in Experiment 1 were also found in Experiment 2. Experiment 3 demonstrated that response-contingent shock did not result in a conditioned punishment effect even when positive reinforcers were unavailable during the discriminative punishment schedule. The exteroceptive stimulus that was paired with shock in the conditioned suppression procedure acquired the ability to punish behavior. The exteroceptive stimulus in the discriminative punishment schedule did not acquire this ability.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1979

Partial avoidance contingencies: Absolute omission and punishment probabilities.

Avoidance contingencies were defined by the absolute probability of the conjunction of responding or not responding with shock or no shock. The "omission" probability (rho(00)) is the probability of no response and no shock. The "punishment" probability (rho(11)) is the probability of both a response and a shock. The traditional avoidance contingency never omits shock on nonresponse trials (rho(00)=0) and never presents shock on response trials (rho(11)=0). Rats were trained on a discrete-trial paradigm with no intertrial interval. The first lever response changed an auditory stimulus for the remainder of the trial. Shocks were delivered only at the end of each trial cycle. After initial training under the traditional avoidance contingency, one group of rats experienced changes in omission probability (rho(00)>0), holding punishment probability at zero. The second group of rats were studied under different punishment probability values (rho(11)>0), holding omission probability at zero. Data from subjects in the omission group looked similar, showing graded decrements in responding with increasing probability of omission. These subjects approximately "matched" their nonresponse frequencies to the programmed probability of shock omission on nonresponse trials, producing a very low and approximately constant conditional probability of shock given no response. Subjects in the punishment group showed different sensitivity to increasing absolute punishment probability. Some subjects decreased responding to low values as punishment probability increased, while others continued to respond at substantial levels even when shock was inevitable on all trials (noncontingent shock schedule). These results confirm an asymmetry between two dimensions of partial avoidance contingencies. When the consequences of not responding included occasional omission of shock, all subjects showed graded sensitivity to changes in omission frequency. When the consequences of responding included occasional shock delivery, some subjects showed graded sensitivity to punishment frequency while others showed control by overall shock frequency as well.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1979

The effect of punishment on free-operant choice behavior in humans.

During Phase I, three female human subjects pressed a button for monetary reinforcement in five variable-interval schedules specifying different frequencies of reinforcement. On alternate days, responding was also punished (by subtracting money) according to a variable-ratio 34 schedule. In the absence of punishment, response rates conformed to Herrnstein's equation for single variable-interval schedules. Punishment suppressed responding at all frequencies of reinforcement. This was reflected in a change in the values of both constants in Herrnstein's equation: the value of the theoretical maximum response-rate parameter was reduced, and the parameter describing the reinforcement frequency corresponding to the half-maximal response rate was elevated. During Phase II, the same five schedules (A) were in operation (without punishment), but in addition, a concurrent variable-interval schedule (B) of standard reinforcement frequency was introduced. On alternate days, responding in Component B was punished according to a variable-ratio 34 schedule. In the absence of punishment, absolute response rates conformed to equations proposed by Herrnstein to describe performance in concurrent schedules; the ratios of the response rates in the two components and the ratios of the times spent in the two components conformed to the Matching Law. When responding in Component B was punished, response rates in Component B were reduced and those in Component A were elevated, these changes being reflected in distortions of the matching relationship.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1980

Reinforcement and punishment effects in concurrent schedules: A test of two models.

The joint effects of punishment and reinforcement on the pigeon's key-peck response were examined in three choice experiments conducted to compare predictions of Farley and Fantino's (1978) subtractive model with those made by Deluty's (1976) and Deluty and Church's (1978) model of punishment. In Experiment 1, the addition of equal punishment schedules to both alternatives of a concurrent reinforcement schedule enhanced the preference exhibited for the more frequent reinforcement alternative. Experiment 2 demonstrated decreases in the absolute response rate for each member of a concurrent reinforcement schedule when increasing frequencies of punishment were added to each alternative. Experiment 3 found that preference for the denser of two reinforcement schedules diminished when the absolute frequencies of reinforcement were increased by a constant factor and conditions of punishment for both alternatives were held constant. Diminished preferences were obtained regardless of whether the frequency of punishment associated with the denser reinforcement schedule was greater or less than that associated with the lean reinforcement alternative. The results from all three experiments uniquely supported Farley and Fantino's (1978) subtractive model of punishment and reinforcement.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

Corporal and capital punishment of juveniles.

There is a previously unobserved connection between corporal punishment of public school children and capital punishment of juveniles. Both are barometers of acceptable levels of violent punishment and their elimination is a hallmark of a maturing and decent society. Within a majority of the eighteen states where school authorities most frequently strike children are housed 25 of the nation's 28 juvenile death row inmates. On average, the homicide rates of these jurisdictions are two and a half times greater than those that have abolished both state-sanctioned corporal and capital punishment or limit death sentences to those age eighteen and older at the time of their crime(s). Most of the eighteen state abolitions of corporal punishment occurred in the 1980's. The US Supreme Court has ruled both corporal and capital punishment of juveniles constitutional. Additional state legislative abolition of both is anticipated in the 1990s.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Arbitrariness and the death penalty: how the defendant's appearance during trial influences capital jurors' punishment decision.

This paper examines the impact of the defendant's appearance during the trial on capital jurors' punishment decision. The data used in this analysis were gathered by the Capital Jury Project (CJP), a national program of research on the decision-making of capital jurors. A series of multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted using four aggravating circumstances related to the killing and eight defendant appearance variables as predictors of jurors' punishment decision at three points during the capital trial: (1) after the punishment phase ended, but before formal deliberation began; (2) when the first vote was taken on punishment at jury deliberations; and (3) at the final vote on punishment. Results indicated that when the defendant appeared emotionally involved during the trial (i.e. sorry and sincere) jurors either favored a life sentence or were undecided about punishment; however, when the defendant appeared emotionally uninvolved during the trial (i.e. bored) jurors either sought a death sentence or remained undecided. Policy implications will be discussed.

Capital Punishment↗
PubMed1987

Evidence that the amygdala is involved in benzodiazepine and serotonergic effects on punished responding but not on discrimination.

Interactions between the benzodiazepines (BZs) chlordiazepoxide (CDP) and midazolam (MDZ), the BZ antagonist R0 15-1788, the inverse BZ receptor agonists CGS 8216 and FG 7142, gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA), serotonin (5-HT), the 5-HT2 antagonist methysergide and the putative 5-HT agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (8-OH-DPAT) were investigated using peripheral and intra-amygdaloid treatments. A multiple schedule consisting of rewarded, nonrewarded (Time out: TO) and conflict periods was used to compare in parallel effects on successive discrimination between rewarded and nonrewarded periods and punished responding. The three components were presented in both a fixed order (Experiment 1) and a random order (Experiments 2 and 3). Intra-amygdaloid treatments with GABA and the BZs selectively increased rates of punished responding. CDP given systemically, on the other hand, increased both TO and conflict rates, suggesting an additional impairment of discrimination, which was more marked in the random than the fixed order condition. R0 15-1788, CGS 8216 and FG 7142 given by both routes counteracted the anti-conflict effects of CDP given centrally or systemically. However increases in TO rates induced by IP CDP were antagonized only by IP treatments with these compounds. The two inverse agonists, but not R0 15-1788, also counteracted increases in punished responding which were found after intra-amygdaloid GABA infusions. In Experiments 2 and 3 where baseline rates of pressing in Conflict periods were sufficiently high to detect decreases, CGS 8216 and FG 7142 reduced responding below control level, suggesting a specific anxiogenic activity. Evidence for effects of R0 15-1788 by itself was inconclusive. 5-HT injected into the amygdala also reduced punished responding below control level, whereas methysergide increased it with both central and peripheral treatment. Effects of 8-OH-DPAT varied according to route of administration. With IP treatment Conflict rates were increased, but after amygdaloid infusion both TO and Conflict rates were marginally reduced below control level, with a more consistent depression of punished responding. These results provide evidence that effects of BZs on punished responding are mediated by a GABAergic system which includes the lateral/basolateral amygdala, but which does not participate in BZ-induced disruption of discrimination. They also indicate that the antagonistic effects of CGS 8216 and FG 7142 involve a decrease in GABA transmission, and that these compounds may also be anxiogenic.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Amygdala↗
PubMed1983

Hippocampal lesions do not alter the partial punishment effect.

Rats were trained to run in an alley for food reward. In a 'partial punishment' condition the animals also received occasional footshock in the goalbox; controls received only food reward during training. In a test phase all animals were given both food and footshock in the goalbox on every trial. Previously partially punished animals demonstrated greater persistence in running to the goal during this test phase. This 'partial punishment effect' was unchanged by hippocampectomy whether the experiment was conducted with an inter-trial interval of a few minutes or one of 24 h. The presence of the partial punishment effect in hippocampectomised rats is in sharp contrast with the abolition of the partial reinforcement extinction effect (which is very similar to the partial punishment effect, but based upon nonreward rather than punishment) previously reported after hippocampectomy.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Presynaptic 5-HT1A receptors mediate the effect of ipsapirone on punished responding in rats.

The effect of ipsapirone, a partial agonist at 5-HT1A receptors, and of diazepam on punished operant responding was studied in rats injected intracerebroventricularly with 150 microg 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine to deplete brain serotonin or pretreated with (S)-WAY 100135 (N-tert-butyl) 3-4-(2-methoxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl-2-phenylpropanamide dihydrochloride), an antagonist at 5-HT1A receptors. 5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine markedly depleted brain serotonin and caused a sustained increase in punished responding with no effect on rates of unpunished responding in sham-operated rats but had no effect in animals which had received 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine. At 5 and 10 mg/kg ipsapirone reduced unpunished responding similarly in sham-operated and 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine-treated rats. Diazepam 2.5 mg/kg i.p.significantly increased punished responding and reduced rates of unpunished responding similarly in sham-operated and in 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine-treated animals. At 3 and 10 mg/kg (S)-WAY 100135 did not modify punished or unpunished responding but at 10 mg/kg it completely antagonized the effect of 5 mg/kg/s.c. ipsapirone on unpunished and punished responding. The results suggest that ipsapirone releases behaviour that is suppressed by punishment by stimulating presynaptic 5-HT1A receptors.

5,7-Dihydroxytryptamine↗
PubMed1976

Punishment contingencies for the reduction of incorrect responses during articulation instruction.

A comparison was made between the effects of punishment combined with positive reinforcement and reinforcement alone for the reduction of incorrect articulation responses. Three different punishers (a buzzer, response cost, and "No!") were studied for six young children while they were receiving programmed articulation instruction. The results indicated (1) that punishment in combination with positive reinforcement was generally more effective than positive reinforcement alone; (2) that whether or not a particular stimulus acted as a punisher could be determined only be empirical demonstration; and (3) that the introduction of punishment contingencies did not produce increased rates of disruptive, off-task behaviors. Conversely, off-task behaviors tended to increase in rate when punishement contingencies for articulation responses were removed.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1994

Shock postponement reverses the effects of cocaine on the punished pecking of pigeons.

The effects of cocaine on punished and unpunished key peck responding of pigeons was examined before and after a history of treadle pressing maintained by shock postponement. In one schedule component, the first peck after 3 min produced grain. The alternate component was similar, but every 30 responses was also punished by a mild shock. Punished responding occurred at approximately 25% of the rate of unpunished responding. Cocaine (0.1-10.0 mg/kg IM) did not affect or decrease punished responding; unpunished responding was not systemically affected. Next, a foot treadle was installed and treadle presses postponed shocks for 25 s; shocks occurred every 5 s in the absence of pressing. The treadle was removed when shocks were reliably postponed. Next, the multiple schedule of key pecking was reinstated. At least one dose of cocaine now increased punished pecking; unpunished responding was not systematically altered. These results complement related findings with monkeys and show that pigeons are suitable subjects for studying the reversal of the effects of cocaine on punished responding by a history of postponing shock.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Evaluation of the effects of PD 134308 (CI-988), a CCK-B antagonist, on the punished responding of squirrel monkeys.

Lever pressing of squirrel monkeys was maintained by a fixed-interval 3-min schedule of food presentation during which every 30th response also produced a brief electric shock. Lever pressing was suppressed during this stimulus (conflict or punishment) compared to that occurring prior to the introduction of shock or, with some monkeys, during an alternate stimulus in which punishment did not occur. PD 134308 (CI-988), administered i.m. (0.03-3.0 mg/kg), increased punished responding but had no effect on non-punished responding. Peak increases of 150% of control occurred at 3.0 mg/kg. There was no indication of sedation at the highest dose of PD 134308 (10.0 mg/kg). By comparison, chlordiazepoxide (1.0-10 mg/kg, i.m.) produced similar effects, except the magnitude of increases in punished responding reached approximately 200% of control performance levels and the higher doses reduced non-punished response rates. PD 134308 produces anxiolytic-like effects in this animal model of anxiety that would suggest potential clinical efficacy in humans of a novel class of compounds with actions at or modulated by cholecystokinin receptors.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Use and abuse of corporal punishment: a Caribbean view.

A sample of 499 Barbadian adults, aged 20 to 59 years, completed written questionnaires to indicate whether they generally approved or disapproved of corporal punishment in child rearing, the perceived advantages and disadvantages of such punishment, the methods and circumstances thought most appropriate for use, and those most inappropriate or ill-advised. Approximately 70% of respondents "generally approved" of corporal punishment, and three-quarters of the remainder considered it occasionally appropriate. There was evidence of considerable consensus as to what constitutes legitimate use of physical punishment and what is unsuitable and/or abusive, although certain differences in the responses of older and younger adults highlighted specific diversities of concern and shifts of attitude over time. The majority considered serious disadvantages to arise only if parents resorted to punishment in an unsystematic, excessive, or self-serving manner, although a small minority thought corporal punishment more generally undesirable or unproductive within the context of contemporary Barbadian society.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Parental attitude and practice regarding physical punishment of school children in Santiago de Chile.

Four hundred and twenty-three parents from two free, nonconfessional, public schools placed in medium and low income areas, and 104 parents from a private, for-pay Catholic school in a medium and high income zone filled out an anonymous self-applied survey to learn attitudes and practices regarding child physical punishment. In the for-pay school parents declared better education. Child battering was admitted by 80.4% (public schools) and 56.7% (private school) despite that 34.1% (public schools) and 51.9% (at the private school) declared that battering should never be used. Females admitted and justified physical punishment in higher proportions than males. Poor school performance, defiance, and running away from home were the preferred reasons to justify battering at public schools, while defiance was preferred at the private school where poor performance was sent to the fourth place. To check parents data and get children's opinions, 192 seventh and eighth grades students were surveyed in one public school (n = 84) and the private school (n = 98). At the public school, 85.7% of children, and 54.1% of the children at the private school admitted to having been physically punished, with no sex differences. Stronger rejections to this punishment were found at the private school. Mother (87 [5%] at the public school and 77 [4%] at the private) and father (36 [1%], and 67 [9%], respectively) were singled out as leading users of physical punishment. Physical punishment differences according to social environment were detected while eradication seems difficult given its cultural basis.

Attitude↗
PubMed2004

"I've tried the switch but he laughs through the tears:" the use and conceptualization of corporal punishment during the Machine Age, 1924-1939.

OBJECTIVE: To examine attitudes, conflicts, images, circumstances, and time-period effects associated with corporal punishment and other forms of adult-to-child violence during the early 20th century in the United States. METHOD: A sample of 147 letters, referencing corporal punishment and dating from 1924 to 1939, were analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The letters were addressed to Angelo Patri (1876-1965), a popular child-rearing expert during the interwar years (also known as the Machine Age), and written primarily by middle class parents with everyday worries about child rearing and proper discipline. RESULTS: People who sought advice emphasized the practical significance of corporal punishment over and above the idea that it violated children's rights to be protected against harm. One in four letters cited conflicts with significant others about corporal punishment. Generally, children were perceived as frail, defiant, or feral. Rarely, were they seen as devilish or, conversely, innocent. Children's disobedience and disrespect were cited more than other misbehaviors as reasons for corporal punishment. Age and gender of the focal child varied by time period when letters from the 1920s and 1930s were compared. CONCLUSIONS: A full understanding of parent-to-child violence cannot be achieved without a firm grasp of its genealogy. The growing popularity of child psychology during the Machine Age had a measurable impact on how children were viewed. A utilitarian frame of interpretation was an important part of the everyday "work" associated with child rearing during this time, foreshadowing the tendency today to emphasize efficacy more than rights when evaluating the legitimacy of corporal punishment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Corporal punishment and physical maltreatment against children: a community study on Chinese parents in Hong Kong.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine rates and associated factors of parent-to-child corporal punishment and physical maltreatment in Hong Kong Chinese families. METHOD: Cross-sectional and randomized household interviews were conducted with 1,662 Chinese parents to collect information on demographic characteristics of parents and children, marital satisfaction, perceived social support, evaluation of child problem behaviors, and reactions to conflicts with children. Descriptive statistics, analyses of variances, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The rates of parent-to-child physical aggression were 57.5% for corporal punishment and 4.5% for physical maltreatment. Mothers as compared to fathers reported higher rates and more frequent use of corporal punishment on their children, but this parental gender effect was insignificant among older parents and those with adolescent children. Boys as compared to girls were more likely to experience higher rates and more frequent parental corporal punishment, especially in middle childhood at aged 5-12. Furthermore, parents perpetrated more frequent physical maltreatment on younger as compared to older children. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that significant correlates of parental corporal punishment were: children's young age, male gender, and externalizing behaviors as well as parents' young age, non-employment, and marital dissatisfaction. For parent-to-child physical maltreatment, significant correlates were externalizing behaviors of children and parental marital dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Hong Kong Chinese parents commonly used corporal punishment on their children, which was associated with characteristics of children, parents, and family.

Adult↗