This reminds me of the Olds/Milner experiments where rats would cross an electrical grid in order to get brain stimulation.
Addicts will try just as hard to get their rewards despite pre- and-post painful factors.

Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida

--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [tips] Dogs, Porcupines, and Learning theories
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:16:31 EDT

This discussion brings to mind why people continue to smoke even after it harms their bodies, e.g. with a smoker's cough or emphysema.  You can address this as addiction, but, for me, one of the simplest explanations is that the immediate primary positive reinforcement is much more powerful than the delayed primary punishment. This might be true for the dogs as well.  The immediate primary positive reinforcement of the chase and capture might outway the pain associated with the punishing quills or skunk scent, which is delayed when compared to the initiation of the chase.
 
Riki Koenigsberg
 
 
 
 




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