The effects of verbal pain stimuli on the behavior of children

In this experiment young boys and girls were presented with either verbal pain or nonpain stimuli contingent or noncontingent on a target response. These stimuli were delivered within an aggressive or nonaggressive setting and with or without affect. The pain stimuli had both a reinforcing and an instigating effect on the behavior of the boys. For the girls, the pain stimuli served a reinforcing function but had a tendency to inhibit overall responding. Although type of setting did not influence the behavior of the children, the stimuli delivered in an affective manner facilitated the responding more than did a non-affective presentation.