Seven-minute rhythms in stable avoidance conditioning

Investigation of the “inextinguishable” locomotor avoidance reflex revealed periodic oscillating of reaction times, motor reaction times, and latent periods, when the conditional stimuli were applied every half minute. These rhythmic properties were verified by autocorrelation. Frequency distribution of all significant wavelengths occurring in rhythmic processes of stabilized conditioning showed seven-minute wavelengths for the most part and smaller numbers of wavelengths of 5 to 9 and 14 minutes. A significant number of wavelengths of 3.5 minutes was not seen. Locomotor avoidance conditioning permitted separate automatic registration of reaction times and motor reaction times. The two values showed synchronous periodic courses in stabilized conditioning, with the motor reaction times being longer. The periodicities found, thought to be due to controlling processes in the central nervous system, can be explained in either or both of two ways: the periodic courses represent a frequency range of a structured time mechanism in the sense of a “clock inherent in an organism”; the rhythms of conditional processes represent an adaptation mechanism in organism-environment interrelations. It can be assumed that the two mechnanisms work synergistically.     

A note on time out from avoidance with the chimpanzee

Fixed-interval responding which produced time out from shock avoidance schedules was established in a chimpanzee. Two widely differing discriminated avoidance schedules were employed in a multiple schedule arrangement. Differences in fixed interval rate were found to be related both to the schedule from which the subject was escaping and to the amount of training.     

A rat chamber and electrode procedure for avoidance conditioning

A method was developed for studying the reactions of rats to aversive shock. The distinctive features were the design of the chamber and a method of restraint that allowed the use of surface electrodes to deliver the shock. Advantages of this method were: (1) accurate specification of the shock actually received by the rat; (2) elimination of all unauthorized escape or avoidance reactions; (3) elimination of the shock scramblers and floor grids required with foot-shock; and, (4) rapid acquisition of performance under various avoidance procedures and various frequencies of shock delivery.     

A new apparatus for the study of avoidance conditioning in fishes

An apparatus for the study of avoidance conditioning in fishes is described. The chamber is cylindrical in shape, with shocking electrodes placed above and below the animals, and response is defined as swimming a predetermined distance in either direction along a circumferential path. This apparatus has several advantages over the conventional shuttlebox: (1)There is little constraint on the direction of swimming; (2) the magnitude of response (swimming distance) required for avoidance can easily be varied over a wide range; and (3) variation in the effectiveness of shock with the position of the animal relative to the position of the electrodes is minimized. Some sample data obtained in a free-operant experiment with goldfish are presented.     

A comparison of escape and avoidance conditioning in wild and domesticated rats

In the first of two experiments, three cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and three albino rats were exposed to instrumental escape, unsignaled avoidance, and signaled avoidance, in that order. All subjects learned the escape procedure quickly, with the albino rats having generally shorter latencies, higher response rates, and requiring fewer sessions to reach the criterion. When the avoidance contingency was introduced, the cotton rats continued to respond almost entirely in the presence of the shock, whereas the albino rats responded in its absence, thus displaying effective avoidance behavior. Introduction of a pre-aversive stimulus did not improve the performance of the cotton rats. In the second experiment, five cotton rats and four albino rats were exposed to a free-operant (Sidman) avoidance procedure with a shock-shock interval of 3 sec and a response-shock interval of 20 sec. The cotton rats initiated responding at lower shock intensities than the albino rats, but their asymptotic avoidance responding was far less effective.     

The role of the cs and avoidance period duration in discriminated avoidance conditioning

In an experiment investigating the effect of CS duration on discriminated bar-press conditioning, subjects were assigned to one warning period duration (1.5, 5.0 or 15.0 sec.) on the first day of avoidance training, and to one of the three durations on the second day of training. On each day avoidance behaviour was greatly influenced by the duration of the CS (warning) period, but the duration on day I had no effect on the second day's avoidance performance. Groups receiving no CS during training, although provided an avoidance contingency, showed little conditioning, but produced highly significant amounts of intertrial responding. In a second experiment, subjects receiving CS on day I were shifted to no CS on day II. Avoidance performance on day II was not significantly different from the day II performance of subjects in Experiment I having two training sessions with the CS present or absent on both days.     

Experiential avoidance in body dysmorphic disorder

Experiential avoidance (i.e., the attempt to avoid certain internal experiences including bodily sensations, thoughts, emotions, memories, and urges) has been studied in various psychological disorders. However, research examining experiential avoidance in individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is limited and inconsistent. The present study compared experiential avoidance in individuals with primary BDD (n = 23) to healthy controls (n = 22). Standardized measures were used to assess baseline clinical characteristics as well as experiential avoidance. Compared to healthy controls, individuals with BDD presented with significantly greater experiential avoidance (p < .001, d = −2.51). In BDD, experiential avoidance was positively correlated with depressive symptoms (p < .01) and avoidant coping strategies (p < .01). Clinician sensitivity to experiential avoidance may serve to improve the course of treatment for BDD.     

Panic disorder: A product of classical conditioning

Contrary to the common view that all panic attacks have a single etiology, it is shown that a distinction must be made between initial attacks, for which there are many causes, and recurrent attacks (panic disorder) which have a common basis. Most initial panic attacks are attributable to the physiological effects of hyperventilation resulting from severe and prolonged anxiety. It has been claimed that the attacks are due to such symptoms as dyspnea, tachycardia and dizziness being misattributed to deadly illness or incipient insanity. We reject this view on several grounds, and in particular because of a pilot study that showed that such attributions follow the onset of panic. Apart from some biological cases, the common initial panic is an unconditioned response to a bizarre stimulus complex produced by excessive hyperventilation, and panic disorder is the result of contiguous stimuli, especially endogenous stimuli, being conditioned to the elicited anxiety. Treatment accords with principles of conditioning.