The purpose of the present two experiments was to evaluate the effects on laboratory microcultures of (a) individual punishment and (b) punishment dependent on group performance. Each experiment involved a single session divided into successive trials. People’s tasks on each trial consisted of choosing rows in a 10 × 10 colored matrix. Consequences were delivered after each trial depending on individuals’ choices (Experiment 1) or on their choices’ aggregated product at the group level (Experiment 2). Experiment 1 showed reliable effects of individual punishment on individual target responding. Experiment 2 showed reliable effects of a group-level analog of punishment on the emission of a target culturant. We discuss some implications of these findings for current concepts of operant behavior and cultural change.

中文翻译：

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惩罚在实验室微培养中的作用

目前两个实验的目的是评估（a）个体惩罚和（b）取决于群体表现的惩罚对实验室微培养的影响。每个实验都涉及一个单独的会话，分为连续的试验。人们在每次试验中的任务包括在 10 × 10 彩色矩阵中选择行。每次试验后根据个人的选择（实验 1）或他们的选择在组级别上的汇总产品（实验 2）得出结果。实验1显示了个体惩罚对个体目标反应的可靠影响。实验 2 显示了组级模拟惩罚对目标培养物发射的可靠影响。我们讨论了这些发现对当前操作行为和文化变革概念的一些影响。