Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

6516

Date

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Psychology

Concentration

Experimental Psychology

Committee Chair

Nicholas Simon

Committee Member

Helen Sable

Committee Member

James Murphy

Abstract

The majority of the research studying punishment has focused on an aversive stimulus delivered immediately after an action. However, negative consequences often occur long after a decision has been made. The delayed punishment decision-making task was developed to address this gap in literature. Rats chose between a small reinforcer and a large reinforcer accompanied by a mild foot shock. The shock was preceded by a delay, which increased throughout the session. Rats discounted the negative value of delayed punishment, as indicated by increased choice of the punished reward as the delay preceding the shock lengthened. Female rats discounted delayed punishment less than males. The addition of a cue significantly decreased the undervaluation of delayed consequences for both sexes. There was no correlation between the discounting of delayed punishments and a traditional reward delay discounting task for either sex. Finally, pharmacological inactivation of the orbitofrontal cortex significantly attenuated delayed punishment discounting.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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