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Effects of inescapable shock on subsequent avoidance performance: Role of response repertoire changes

Behavioral BiologyPublished 1 September 1973
Hymie Anisman, T. Gary Waller
Citations80

TL;DR

The fecundity of divorcing fear conditioning from instrumental components of avoidance training as a psychopharmacological technique is discussed, and the role of numerous variables which modulate the effects of aversive stimulation is examined.

Abstract

Current theories of the effects of signaled inescapable shock on subsequent avoidance performance are critically examined. An alternative hypothesis, which adequately accounts for the varied effects of prior shock exposure, is described. The alternative hypothesis which is based on response-repertoire changes produced by shock, assumes that the compatibility of the response required in avoidance training and the nonassociative effects of shock largely determine the changes seen in avoidance performance following inescapable shock. The role of numerous variables (e.g., strain, species, task, stimulus factors, intensity and duration of shock, and pharmacological agents) which modulate the effects of aversive stimulation is examined. Finally, the fecundity of divorcing fear conditioning from instrumental components of avoidance training as a psychopharmacological technique is discussed.

Keywords

PsychologyNeuroscience