Secondary Negative Reinforcing Properties of a Stimulus Associated With Suppression of Morphine-Induced Abstinence.

Contemporary theories of learning and motivation assert that stimuli which are paired with conventional reinforcers such as food and water readily acquire the properties of conditioned or "secondary” reinforcers. However, when stimuli are paired with the reduction of aversive drive states induced by the onset of noxious or painful stimuli, generally no conditioning is observed. The results of studies dealing with experimental narcotic addiction suggest that narcotic withdrawal is an aversive drive state which may prove to be an exception in terms of its ability to alter the neutrality of environmental cues associated with its reduction. Yet the nature of the reinforcing mechanism that sustains addictive behavior is not clearly understood. Until this issue is clarified, the theoretical implications of addiction phenomena cannot be examined.The purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to establish a rationale for treating narcotic withdrawal as an aversive drive with behavioral properties analogous to those indicative of fear. The second is to describe an experiment designed to determine whether a stimulus paired with the reduction of this aversive drive state would acquire reinforcing properties, and thus warrant a reappraisal of prevailing concepts of secondary reinforcement.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Year

1976

Author dc:creator

• Rickert, Danna Lee

• Secondary reinforcement
• Narcotic addiction
• Conventional reinforcers
• Narcotic withdrawal
• Addictive behavior

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/7101

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.library.uab.edu:etd-collection-8093