Classical Conditioning of Aggression: A Developmental Study

Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 12-1968 Classical Conditioning of Aggression: A Developmental Study Bruce E. Gideon Jr. Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons Recommended Citation Gideon, Bruce E. Jr., "Classical Conditioning of Aggression: A Developmental Study" (1968). Master's Theses. 3150. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3150 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact maira.bundza@wmich.edu.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING OF AGGRESSION: A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY by Bruce E. Gideon, J r. A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Graduate Studies in p a r tia l fulfillm ent of the Degree of Master of Arts Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan December 1968

ACKNOW LEDG EM ENTS The author would li k e to express h is g r a titu d e to the members o f h is committee, Drs. Roger U lric h, Howard F a r r is, and S c o tt Wood, fo r t h e i r aid and guidance in the development and completion o f t h i s t h e s is. S p ecial thanks go to Roger U lrich, chairman o f my comm itte e, whose d ire c tio n and aid guided t h i s t h e s is fo r ward and to Howard F a r r is whose planning and d ire c tio n not only aided in th e com pletion o f t h i s th e s is but made the study p o s s ib le. F in a lly, th e au th o r would lik e to thank members o f the s t a f f o f the B ehavior Research Laboratory whose aid and v erb al support helped to dim inish th e more fru s t r a t i n g moments created by th is study. i i R ep rod uced with perm ission o f the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

MASTER S THESIS M-1732 GIDEON, Jr., Bruce E. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING OF AGGRESSION: A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY. Western Michigan University, M.A., 1968 Psychology, experimental University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACK NOWLEDGEMENTS INDEX OF FIGURES ABSTRACT.... INTRODUCTION.. METHOD... Subject.. Apparatus. Procedure. RESULTS... DISCUSSION... REFERENCES.... i i. iv. v. 1. 6. 6 8 10 12 18 ill

IN D E X OF F IG U R E S FIGURE PAGE 1 BASELINE AND ACQUISITION DATA FOR THREE PAIRS OF IMMATURE SUBJECTS.... 16 2 BASELINE AND ACQUISITION DATA FOR THREE PAIRS OF MATURE SUBJECTS...17 iv

INTRODUCTION In the c o n tin u in g e f f o r t o f re se a rc h e rs to e la b o ra te th e c s u s e - e ff e c t r e la tio n s h ip o f events and behavior co n sid erab le re s e a rc h has been devoted to th e c la s s ic a l or respondent c o n d itio n in g o f b eh av io rs (Pavlov, 1927). Pavlov provided th e c la s s ic a l c o n d itio n in g paradigm upon which c u rre n t re se a rc h is based. In demonstrating, the methodology through which a secondary stim ulus acq u ires the e l i c i t i n g p r o p e rtie s o f a prim ary stim ulus w ith which i t has been re p e a te d ly p a ire d, Pavlov provided one o f the i n i t i a l step s in th e c o n tin u a lly developing em p irical a n a ly s is o f b e h av io r. P av lo v 's re s e a rc h in co n d itio n in g was d ire cted p r in c ip a lly a t th e s a liv a ry response o f h is research anim als. Subsequent re se a rc h in respondent co n d itio n in g has d e a lt w ith ca rd ia c response, eyeblink and n i c t i t a t i n g membrane c o n d itio n in g (Gormezano, 1966), galvanic skin response (Prokasy, 1965) as w ell as le g fle x io n (Pavlov, 1927). These resp o n ses re q u ire th e a c t i v i t y of only a sm all p o rtio n o f th e t o t a l organism. Thus, these r e sponses might b e s t be described as m olecular as opposed to m olar. F u rth er re s e a rc h in c la s s i c a l co n d itio n in g has been d ire c te d a t more m olar response p a tte r n s such as avoidance responding (Behrend and B itterm an, 1964; E stes and 1

Skinner, 1941), c o u rtin g behavior o f Japanese q u a il ( F a rr is, 1968) ag g ressiv e d isp lay o f Siamese fig h tin g f is h (A dler and Hogan, 1963; Thompson and Sturm, I 9 6 5 ) and conditioned ag g ressio n in r a t s (Vernon and U lrich, I 9 6 6 ; C reer, H itzin g and S ch aeffer, 1 9 6 6 ). As in most cases o f co n d itio n in g, both c la s s ic a l and o p eran t, a c q u is itio n o f the conditioned response, th e le v e l a t which the response is m aintained, and the r e l i a b i l i t y w ith which the response occurs when the c o n tr o llin g stim ulus i s introduced are fu n ctio n s o f the com plexity o f the response to be co n d itio n ed. The r e la tio n s h ip between com plexity (m olarity ) o f the behavior and the speed and u ltim a te success o f c o n tro llin g the response as d esired is f u rth e r and more im portantly a fu n ctio n o f and h ig h ly dependent upon the procedure employed. The d e fin in g c h a r a c te r is tic as to how the c o n d itio n in g w ill be acquired and i t s u ltim a te s t a b i l i t y is not p red ica te d so le ly on the com plexity o f the response to be conditioned b u t is r a th e r a fu n ctio n o f the response and the methodology used to e s ta b lis h th e conditioned response. Among the v a r ie ty o f behaviors subjected to in v estig a tio n using c la s s i c a l co n d itio n in g procedures is agg re ssio n, a response re la te d to man sin ce th e beginning o f recorded history". In v e s tig a tio n s have ranged from s t r i c t o b serv atio n s o f th e phenomenon w ith l i t t l e c o n tro l R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

of i t s occurrence to t i g h t l y c o n tro lle d experim entation where th e v a ria b le s in flu e n c in g the behavior have been id e n tif ie d and, fo r th e most p a r t, c o n tro lle d and manipu lated. E arly la b o ra to ry stu d ie s dem onstrated ag g ressio n to be a response evoked by the p re s e n ta tio n o f e l e c t r i c shock to the f e e t o f p a ir s of experim ental anim als (O 'K elly and S te ck le, 1939; D aniel, 1943). U lric h and Azrin (1962) continued the in v e s tig a tio n and f u r th e r dem onstrated th a t the ag g ressiv e response to av e rsiv e stim u la tio n was a fu n ctio n o f shock d e n sity, shock f r e quency, shock i n te n s ity, s p a tia l proxim ity o f s u b je c ts a t th e o n set o f shock, siz e o f the shamber, sex o f the su b je c t and the mode o f d eliv e ry o f the a v ersiv e event. Subsequent re se a rc h dem onstrated th a t the ag g ressiv e response to pain was c o n s is te n t.both w ith in and acro ss a wide v a r ie ty o f species (U lrich, W olff and A zrin, 1964; U lric h, Hutchinson and A zrin, 1 9 6 5 ), and th a t th e age o f the organism when placed in the shock s itu a tio n is d ir e c tly re la te d to the p ro b a b ility o f the occurrence of an a g g ressiv e response (H utchinson, U lric h and A zrin, 1 9 6 5 ). The d ata thus f a r in d ic a te th a t the a g g ressiv e response in v e stig a te d in th ese stu d ie s i s b e s t defined as a re fle x iv e response to av ersiv e stim u la tio n. Following t h i s prem ise, f u rth e r research was conducted in the R ep rod uced with perm ission o f the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

in v e s tig a tio n o f the respondent co n d itio n in g o f the re lfe x iv e a g g ressiv e response in r a t s (Vernon and U lric h, 1966; C reer, H itzin g and S ch a effe r, 1 9 6 6 ). These stu d ie s u t i l i z e d m ature r a ts and u sin g c la s s ic a l P avlovian te c h niques dem onstrated success in th e co n d itio n in g o f an a g g re ssiv e resp o n se. However, in a l l cases th e -re lia b i l i t y o f th e stim ulus to evoke the response was v a ria b le For example, Vernon and U lric h (1966) rep o rted a maximum o f f i f t y - t h r e e p erc en t responding to th e conditioned stim u lu s. U lric h, H utchinson and Azrin (1 9 6 5 ) in d ic ate d th a t th e in c o n sisten c y o f su ccessiv e e l i c i t a t i o n o f agg re ssiv e responding by a conditioned stim ulus n e c e s s i ta te d f u r th e r in v e s tig a tio n o f respondent conditioned a g g re ssio n. C reer, H itz in g and S ch aeffer ( I 9 6 6 ) found i t n ecessary to use an unusu ally loud (80db) conditioned stim u lu s, a f a c to r which may have confounded the r e s u l t s ( F a rr is, Gideon and U lric h, 1 9 6 8 ). The problems r e la te d h ere req u ired f u rth e r in v e s tig a tio n o f the r e spondent co n d itio n in g o f ag g ressio n. As d ata in d ic a te, the number o f v a r ia b le s re la te d to the e l i c i t a t i o n o f an ag g ressiv e response i s co n sid e r a b le, However, d ata re p o rte d by H utchinson, U lric h and Azrin ( 1 9 6 5 ) dem onstrated th e e l i c i t a t i o n o f ag g ressio n in young r a t s, th irty -s e v e n days o ld. These au th o rs f u rth e r s ta te d th a t th e c o n ta c t the organism has w ith the a v e rsiv e e l i c i t i n g stim ulus (h is h is to ry o f a v e rsiv e stim R ep rod uced with perm ission o f the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

ulation) is a c r itic a l factor in the magnitude of the unconditioned aggressive response. The current study is the resu lt of an e ffo rt to condition a molar response using classical'pavlovian techniques. The purpose of the study was (1) to c la rify question's regarding response strength raised by previous studies and more importantly, (2) to explore the re la tionship between the age of the subject and the acquisition of the conditioned aggressive response.

METHOD S u b jects S u b jects su c c e ssfu lly m aintained to the s tu d y 's com pletion were twelve male Hooded Long-Evans r a t s exp erim e n ta lly naive a t the beginning o f the study. The tw elve s u b je c ts composed two age groups, six s u b je c ts being 34 days old and six being 90 days old a t th e beginning o f c o n d itio n in g. S u b jects were assigned to th re e p a ir s w ith in each group and remained in p a irs fo r the d u ra tio n o f th e experim ent. Animals were housed in the colony room o f th e Behavior R esearch Laboratory, Western Michigan U n iv e rsity, and had fre e access to food and w ater a t a l l tim es o th e r than d uring the experim ental s e s s io n. Twenty-one o th e r s u b je c ts, seven in the 34-day old group and 14 in the 90-da.y old group, were elim in ated from th e study due to severe in ju ry o r d eath as a fu n ctio n o f th e unconditioned ag g ressiv e resp o n se. A pparatus The ap p aratu s was id e n tic a l to th a t used by Vernon and. U lric h (1966). The experim ental chamber measured 8fx8 -xll - inches w ith the fro n t and two ad jacen t sid e s co n stru cted o f c le a r p le x ig la s s, p e rm ittin g an unob- 6

stru c te d view o f i t s i n t e r i o r. The back and top were o f q u a rte r-in c h m asonite. This compartment was enclosed in a soun d -atten u ate.^ ch est 36x24x18 in ch es equipped w ith an e ig h t ohm loudspeaker mounted in th e upper r ig h t hand q u a rte r o f the sid e w a ll. A 7.5 w att l i g h t was mounted in the ce n te r o f th e same sid e w all and served as the source o f the "h o u se l i g h t." A second l i g h t, 45 w att, was mounted in the c e n te r o f the c e ilin g o f the o u te r chamber and served as p a r t o f the conditioned stim u lu s. A tone o f 60 db a t 130 cy cles p er second programmed to th e loudspeaker completed th e conditioned stim u lu s complex. The in n er chamber was clamped to th e o u te r chamber f lo o r which was composed o f o n e -six te e n th inch s te e l rods mounted on o n e -h a lf inch c e n te rs and wired for shock. Shocks were d eliv ered to th e s te e l rod flo o r by a G raso n -S tad ler shock g en era to r and scram bler. Shock was used as the unconditioned stim ulus in the c o n d itio n in g p ro c e d u re. A sm all compartment, 10x24x18 in ch es, extended to th e r ig h t o f the sid e w all o f the o u te r chamber and conta in e d term in al s tr i p s and e l e c t r i c a l connectors u tiliz e d in programming stim u li to the chamber. Also contained in t h i s end compartment was a Venco 110 v o l t a i r blow er which v e n tila te d the experim ental chamber and a lso provided a c o n sta n t low le v e l "w hite n o ise. O bservers viewed the behavior o f su b je c ts in the

in n e r chamber through the p le x ig la s s door and recorded responses by d ep ressin g a m icrosw itch th a t recorded the counts on c o n tro l and programming equipment lo cated in an a d ja c e n t room. Procedure T ests fo r s e n s itiz a tio n and th e e sta b lish m e n t o f an unconditioned ag g ressiv e response comprised the f i r s t four s e ss io n s. Session one co n sisted o f 500 p re s e n ta tio n s of a 130 cy cles p e r second tone and a 45 w att l i g h t (cond itio n e d stim ulus complex) alo n e, followed by 175 p resen ta tio n s o f two m illiam pere (ma) foot shock (unconditioned stim u lu s) spaced every ten seconds. S essions two and th re e c o n siste d o f 175 and 150 p re s e n ta tio n s o f shock alone re s p e c tiv e ly. F ig h tin g responses were obtained fo r each sessio n by an o b serv er d ep ressin g a m icrosw itch, reco rd in g the event on a co u n ter. A f ig h t was recorded when one o r bo th su b je c ts stru c k, h i t, b i t, o r pawed a t th e o th e r, and produced id e n tif ia b le c o n ta c t between th e s u b je c ts. Session fo u r, u t i l i z i n g a delay procedure w ith a one second conditioned stim ulus (CS) and a o n e -h a lf second unconditioned stim ulus (UCS), began c o n d itio n in g. Oneh a l f second a f t e r the o n set o f the CS a 2 ma shock (UCS) was p re se n te d. The CS and UCS term inated sim ultaneously one second a f t e r the UCS o n se t. The i n t e r - t r i a l In te rv a l

was ten seconds, and one p re se n ta tio n o f th e CS re p re sented one t r i a l. Every elev en th t r i a l th e CS was p re sented alone (no UCS was p resen ted ) to t e s t fo r co n d itio n ing and to tra c k th e development o f the conditioned agg re ssiv e response. Each co n d itio n in g sessio n co n sisted o f 200 t r i a l s, 18 being CS alone p r e s e n ta tio n s. One sessio n was run p er day on a five-day week schedule fo r a t o t a l o f a t l e a s t 33 c o n d itio n in g s e ssio n s. M* Avoidance responding by th e s u b je c ts ly in g on t h e i r backs on the g rid flo o r was punished w ith an in c re a se in shock amperage on the next o n e -h a lf second UCS p rese n ta tio n and was retu rn ed to 2 ma a t the term in atio n o f the avoidance b eh av io r. The in c re a se was made in one- h a lf ma increm ents on each su ccessiv e p re s e n ta tio n o f the UCS which was avoided. A le v e l o f s u f f i c i e n t punishm ent, (a shock in te n s ity a t which s u b je c ts c o n siste n tly d isco n tin u ed avoidance resp o n d in g ), was e sta b lish e d a f t e r se v e ra l se ssio n s and was then th e only in te n s ity used to punish avoidance. A f u rth e r measure to decrease avoidance b eh av io r was to shave th e h a ir o f f the s u b je c ts ' backs and apply a h a ir removal p roduct to d ecrease the a n im a l's p r o b a b ility o f su c c e ssfu l avoidance by ly in g on h is back. R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

RESULTS B aselin e d ata are rep resen ted in sin g le sessio n s w hile c o n d itio n in g data are averaged in blocks o f five sessio n s fo r the th re e p a ir s o f s u b je c ts in each o f the two groups. A ll d ata are shown in p ercen tag es o f fig h ts : number o f f ig h ts to the UCS over the number o f UCS p re s e n ta tio n s fo r UCS f ig h ts, and the number o f f ig h ts to the CS alone p re se n ta tio n s over the number o f CS alone p re s e n ta tio n s fo r CS alone f ig h ts. No fig h tin g was observed in response to th e i n i t i a l 500 CS alone p re s e n ta tio n s. S ubjects were observed to " fre e z e during the f i r s t few p re s e n ta tio n s o f th e CS alone b u t re a d ily adapted to the novel stim u lu s. The stereo ty p ed ag g ressiv e response was observed to occur by no l a t e r than the f if te e n th p re se n ta tio n o f th e UCS fo r bo th members o f each p a ir o f both mature and immature groups. F ig h tin g responses in the immature group during the UCS t e s t t r i a l s were noted to begin a t 57 p e rc en t, 63 p e rc e n t, and 28 p ercen t fo r p a irs 100, 102, and 103, r e s p e c tiv e ly, and unconditioned ag g ressiv e responding increased acro ss sessions to 85 p e rc e n t, 96 p e rc e n t, and 84 p e rc en t fo r the same p a ir s a t the end o f the study (fig u re 1 ). F ig h tin g responses to the 500 p re -c o n d itio n ing UCS alone t r i a l s o f m ature su b je c ts were p a ir 300 beginning, a t 44 p ercen t, p a ir 302 a t 28 p e rc e n t. P a ir 10 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

303 began a t a lower r a te o f 19 p ercen t f ig h ts. Uncond itio n ed a g g ressiv e responding increased a c ro ss sessio n s to 90 p e rc e n t, 88 p e rc e n t, and 93 p erc en t fo r p a irs 3 0 0, 302, and 3 0 3, re s p e c tiv e ly (fig u re 2). The conditioned response was evid en t in a l l p a ir s o f both groups by the second block o f s e ssio n s. Asymptotic le v e l o f responding was 48 p e rc e n t, 84 p e rc e n t and 61 p erc en t fo r immature p a ir s 1 0 0, 102 and 1 0 3, and 71 p e rc e n t, 70 p erc e n t and 58 p erc e n t fo r m ature p a ir s 3 0 0, 302 and 3 0 3 The data fo r a l l s u b je c ts p re se n t a s im ila r p a tte rn o f a c q u is itio n o f the conditioned ag g ressiv e response (fig u re s 1 and 2). A ll p a ir s fought to the UCS in a l l se ssio n s, and the response p ro b a b ility increased w ith each se ssio n. The conditioned response developed sim i la r ly in a l l p a ir s w ith l i t t l e d iffe re n c e in e ith e r f r e quency o r m agnitude. A s t a t i s t i c a l t e s t o f d iffe re n c e (Kolmogorov-Smirnov K-q=.05) fa ile d to show any s i g n i f i cant d iffe re n c e between groups fo r e ith e r a c q u is itio n or asym ptotic le v e l o f the conditioned response. The ac q u i s itio n o f th e conditioned response was e s s e n tia lly the same fo r mature su b je c ts as fo r immature s u b je c ts.

DISCUSSION The r e s u lts c le a rly dem onstrate th a t a g g re ssio n, as an arttack response to a v e rsiv e s tim u la tio n, i s amenable to respondent co n d itio n in g. There seems to be l i t t l e doubt th a t th e response being in v e stig a te d h erein i s a g g ressio n. Beyond i t s o p e ra tio n a l d e f in itio n, s p e c ific to t h i s study, th e b eh av io r o f the experim ental anim als b o th as a. r e s u l t o f th e unconditioned stim u lu s and to th e conditioned stim u lu s im presses th e o b serv er w ith the fa c t th a t th e behavio r in s id e th e experim ental chamber is ag g re ssio n. The a g g re ssiv e n ess o f the shock-produced response is a tte s te d to by th e fa c t th a t a t o t a l o f t h ir ty - f o u r anim als were used fo r th e experim ent, and only seven fin ish e d the study. The lo s s o f su b je c ts was a t t r i b u t a b l e alm ost s o le ly to in ju ry o r death brought on by a tta c k and c o u n te ra tta c k in th e experim ental chamber. The d ata here a re in agreem ent w ith e a r l i e r stu d ie s (Vernon and U lric h, 1966; C reer, H itzin g and S ch aeffer, 1966): th e conditioned response was acquired a t a nearly s ta b le r a te w ith some sessio n to sessio n v a ria n c e. However, th e asym ptotic le v e l o f responding, w ith th e exceptio n o f one experim ental p a i r fo r one sessio n, never reached one-hundred p e rc e n t responding to conditioned stim u lu s t e s t t r i a l s. The le v e l o f conditioned respondin g a tta in e d fo r any one se ssio n, 100 p e rc e n t, was higher 12 R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

1 3 than reported by C reer, H itz in g and S ch aeffer (1 9 6 6 ), 90 p e rc e n t, and h ig h er than th a t rep o rted by Vernon and U lric h (1 9 6 6 ), 53 p e rc e n t. Recent re se a rc h in d ic a te s th a t a loud au d ito ry stim u lu s not s u f f ic ie n t, by i t s e l f, to produce ag g ressiv e responding in r a t s may f a c i l i t a t e a h ig h er r a te o f a g g ressiv e responding to shock than th a t produced by the shock alone (F a rris, Gideon and U lric h, 1 9 6 8 ). This study r a is e s a qu estio n concerning th e unusual loudness o f th e C reer, H itzin g and S ch aeffer (1 9 6 6 ) conditioned stim u lu s, an 80db au d ito ry stim u lu s. I f a loud a u d ito ry stim ulus w ill fa c i l i t a t e a g g ressio n, i t i s conceivable th a t the loud stim u lu s is o la te s th e p r e r e q u is ite fo r stim ulus n e u t r a l it y. In sp e c u la tin g as to the h ig h e r r a te o f fig h tin g in th e p re se n t study as compared to Vernon and U lrich (1966), the experim ental su b je c ts were exposed to co n sid erab ly more CS-UCS p a irin g s and thus had what H utchinson, U lric h and Azrin ( I 9 6 5 ) described as a h is to ry o f co n tact w ith the a v e rsiv e stim u lu s, a fa c to r im portant in the u ltim a te magnitude o f th e a g g ressiv e resp o n se. I t would not be unreasonable to conclude th a t the le s s than one-hundred p e rc e n t co n d itio n in g to the stim ulus complex is in p a r t a fu n ctio n o f th e complexity o f the r e sponse to be co n d itio n ed. The ag g re ssiv e response can be considered a t o t a l organism ic resp o n se. The v a ria b le s i n volved in th e e l i c i t a t i o n o f ag g ressiv e behavior are not R eproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

few nor a re they e a s ily c o n tro lle d. The in te ra c tio n "between th e r e f le x iv e response, ag g ressio n, and i t s ope ra n tly re in fo rc e d consequences f u r th e r adds to th e com plexity o f th e a n a ly s is of t h i s behavior and th e degree to which i t can be resp o n d en tly c o n d itio n e d. In accordance with the e a r l i e r s ta te d prem ise th a t th e success o f co n d itio n in g i s th e r e la tio n s h ip between th e procedure and the com plexity o f th e response, the c l a s s ic a l co n d itio n in g o f ag g ressio n c le a rly f i t s in to th e c la s s o f complex molar b e h a v io r. Because of i t s com plexity, ag g ressio n, and th e procedure u tiliz e d in respondent c o n d itio n in g, p re se n ts a most d i f f i c u l t r e sponse to c l a s s i c a l l y co n d itio n to a high p ro b a b ility low v arian ce resp o n se, a conclusion w ith which the data of th is study are in agreem ent. In l i g h t o f th e major purpose o f th is study, the e x p lo ra tio n o f the r e la tio n s h ip between age o f the subje c ts and the a c q u is itio n and peak o f the conditioned agg re ssiv e resp o n se, the d ata dem onstrate no s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e between the groups. The age a t which the a n i mals o f t h i s study f i r s t came in c o n ta c t w ith the av ersiv e event i s not th e most Im portant f a c to r in t h e i r a c q u is i tio n o f th e conditioned ag g ressiv e response, e ith e r w ith regard to r a te o f i t s a c q u is itio n o r i t s asym ptotic le v e l o f e l i c i t a t i o n. I t would appear t h a t the most im portant fa c to r i s the e x te n t o f exposure to th e co n d itio n in g

p ro cess (Pavlov, 1927; H utchinson, U lric h and A zrin, 1965). The h is to ry o f a v e rsiv e stim u la tio n, number of p a irin g s o f CS and UCS over tim e, may w ell be th e most c r i t i c a l fa c to r in th e development o f the conditioned a g g ressiv e b eh av io r, a q u estio n needing fu rth e r re se a rc h in v e s tig a tio n. Research o f t h i s type c e rta in ly has l i t t l e value unle s s i t u ltim a te ly p ro v id es knowledge r e l a t iv e to and stim u la te s in v e s tig a tio n in human re se a rc h. The phenomenon o f agg ressio n as the d ata in d ic a te is a complex o f stim ulus response r e la tio n s h ip s not a s se ssa b le in sim ple term s. I t i s, however, an Im portant and p ressin g re se a rc h problem as the c u rre n t w ealth o f d ata in d ic a te. The re se a rc h p ro g res sion has been from sim ple o b serv atio n to c o n tro lle d e l i c i t a tio n to both c la s s ic a lly conditioned and o p eran t conditioned c o n tro l. What must be done now is to id e n tify th e v a ria b le s p e rm ittin g com plete c o n tro l and to g e n e ra liz e th e c o n tro l o f ag g ressiv e behavior to the human le v e l as w e ll. Knowledge o f th e f a c to rs surrounding e l i c i t a t i o n as w ell as means o f d i f f e r e n t i a l l y producing the a g g re s siv e response, both in v e stig a te d in th e p re se n t re se a rc h w ill h o p efu lly aid in t h i s eventual c o n tro l.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. cn E - i W a H Cm Cm O 50 100 BASELINE I 1 i SESSIO N S r 3 FIGURE 1 CONDITIONING i 1---- 1---- 1---- H hr BLOCKS OF 5 SESSIO N S UCS CS PAIR O 1 0 0 A 1 0 2 1 0 3

Pi H O CN 00 C O O O ft oo on oo 17 u SO< a 2 H H w Pi D H ft u 2 H 2 O H Eh H Q 2 O U ft 2 H hi H W CPQ SESSIONS BLOCKS OP 5 SE SSIO N S o "T o SJjHf)Ii3 3 0 % NV3W R ep rod uced with perm ission of the copyright ow ner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.

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