COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF EXTINCTION CONTINGENCIES AND AVERSIVE STIMULATION SITUATIONS ON AGGRESSION BEHAVIORS AND ANGER FEELINGS

• Grant number: 24/18816-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Leyser Gonçalves
• Grantee: João Marques Mantovani
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project is an experimental study that aims to compare the effects of Extinction and Aversive Stimulation contingencies on aggressive behaviors and feelings of anger, through the perspective of Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB). So, emotions are forms of behavior under the control of environmental contexts. Aggressive behavior can be related to Extinction or Aversive Stimulation situations. The experiment will be carried out with 20 participants (18 to 25 years old, 10 men and 10 women). A PC type computer will be used, with a set of tasks called SRGold for PsychoPy. Three sessions of 25 minutes each will be carried out. These tasks concern a "mining game", in which each of the participants must click the left mouse button. Correct answers will be reinforced with an image simulating a gold nugget, the sound of coins falling and points. The participant's goal is to get the largest amount of nuggets. In the first session, the participants will go through modeling, CRF and VR10. From the second session onwards, a virtual button will be presented with the option to flood a supposed participant's mine, resetting their nugget counter. The purpose of the button is to operationalize aggressive behavior. Two visual analog scales (calm/angry and sad/happy) will serve as a measure of the participant's behavior. Half of the participants will go through an Extinction process and, in the following session, through a period of Aversive Stimulation, the other half will go through the reverse order. Aversive Stimuli will be presented in the form of a flooding of the mine and loss of all points. Response proportions will be compared using Student's t-test or repeated measures ANOVA, followed by post hoc evaluation when necessary, considering a significance level of 0.05. (AU)