This is a summary of a study on the effects of electric shock in dog training.
Punishment in the form of electric shock in dog training was delivered through implanted electrodes following every response during a variable-interval schedule of food reinforcement. The initial addition of punishment was found to produce a disproportionately large suppression of responding with subsequent recovery, often complete, while the punishment was being maintained. This recovery from punishment occurred within each daily period as well as from day to day over periods as long as 60 days. At very intense punishment intensities, this recovery process was usually reduced or absent. The same cycle of immediate suppression and gradual recovery is produced by abrupt increases in an existing level of punishment. Conversely, when an existing level of punishment is decreased, responding adjusts gradually to a new and higher level. When the punishment is reduced to zero, however, the previously punished responses briefly “overshoot,” reaching a higher rate than is usual for the unpunished level. No increase in the variability of the local response rate results from the punishment of responses under variable-interval food reinforcement. Under this simultaneous food and punishment schedule, response continues to occur at a uniform rate, which is directly related to the degree of food deprivation and inversely related to the punishment intensity. Interruption of the punishment process, either by a period of no punishment or by a complete time-out period, produces renewed suppression upon the reinstatement of the punishment. To read of study please click here. To understand more please contact us today.