Sanabria, F., Sitomer, M.T., & Killeen, P.R. (2006).
Negative automaintenance omission training is effective.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 86, 1-10.
Twelve pigeons were exposed to negative automaintenance contingencies
for 17-27 sessions immediately after brief (14-16 sessions) or extended
(168-237 sessions) exposure to positive automaintenance contingencies, or
after 4-10 sessions of instrumental training. In all conditions, negative
automaintenance contingencies virtually eliminated responding, reducing
response rates to an average 1.3 responses per min. This reduction in response
rate was validated by a model of transition between early and late response
rates that assumed exponential transition of rates from one set of contingencies
to the next. The model faithfully reproduced cumulative records, and yielded
estimates of terminal rates under negative automaintenance that were close to
operant level.
Key words: Negative automaintenance, omission training, persistence, autoshaping,
key peck, pigeons