Interactions between the discriminative and aversive properties of punishment

Punishment acquires a discriminative property when it is selectively paired with either reinforcement or extinction. At the milder punishment intensities, the discriminative control exerted by punishment is similar to the discriminative control exerted by a response-produced neutral (nonaversive) stimulus. However, the effect of the aversive property is apparent as the intensity of the punishment is increased. The aversive property of the punishment acts to enhance the discriminative control when the punishment is selectively applied during extinction periods, and to attenuate the discriminative control when the punishment is selectively applied during reinforcement periods. One major difference was found between the control exerted by the punishment and the response-produced neutral simulus: Responding greatly increased after the S^Δ punishment but not after the S^Δ neutral stimulus; this increase in responding was independent of the punishment intensities studied.     

The Moderating Effect of Core Self‐Evaluations on the Relationships between Job Attitudes and Organisational Citizenship Behavior

Several studies in the organisational citizenship behavior (OCB) literature have focused on the main effects of employee dispositions and job attitudes. The current study builds upon previous findings by examining whether core self‐evaluations (CSE) moderate the relationship between job attitudes and OCBs. Consistent with our hypotheses and with the notion that CSE contributes to one's general level of initiative and self‐confidence, data collected from 200 New Zealand workers found that the job attitude–OCB relationship was stronger for workers who were high in CSE than for workers who were low in CSE.