Relaxation Theory and Experiments

This chapter discusses relaxation theory and presents some experiments, and presents the abstract concepts of stimulus, response class, and the relationship between them.

Abstract

This chapter discusses relaxation theory and presents some experiments. The theoretical background for analyzing escape-avoidance behavior in terms of relaxation has been called elicitation theory or elicitation hypothesis. By and large, this approach is a comprehensive theory of behavior that borrows heavily from Hull, Guthrie, Tolman, and Skinner and represents an attempt to integrate these neo-behavioristic schools. On the contemporary scene, there are certain similarities between this theory and Premack's. In regard to learning, the theory is a monistic, contiguity position that emphasizes that a particular response must occur consistently and to the relative exclusion of other responses to be learned. Many variables that help mediate learning are those that commonly minimize or eliminate competing responses. The theory avoids positing hypothetical concepts or intervening variables, and it depends upon a continual, detailed analysis of stimulus and response for the explanation and prediction of behavior. The chapter presents the abstract concepts of stimulus, response class, and the relationship between them.