Note on the invariance of response latency in shuttlebox avoidance learning

Bolles, Robert C.; Moot, Seward A.; Nelson, Kelly A.

doi:10.1016/0023-9690(76)90021-7

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Fleeing, an innate species-specific defense reaction of rats (Bolles, 1970(Bolles, , 1971, soon becomes the dominant mode of behavior to pain and also to the events signaling painful stimulation. The data showing that escape and avoidance response latencies do not change in the course of training conducted in the shuttlebox (Bolles, Moot, & Nelson, 1976) were in agreement with such an understanding of instrumental defensive responding.A number of experiments yielded results that opposed the assertion of Bolleset al (1976) concerning the invariance of response latencies in shuttlebox avoidance learning. Shortening of the two-way avoidance response latency was noted during a single training session (Bond, 1981;Galvani & Twitty, 1978).…”

supporting

confidence: 71%

supporting

confidence: 71%

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Inhibition of delay of the two-way avoidance response and warning-signal salience

Zieliński

Werka

Wilson

et al. 1995

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Effects of extended training (nine sessions, 50 trials each) on two-way avoidance response latencies were studied. For each rat, auditory and visual warning signals (CS) were presented on separate trials, either according to a Gellermann series or in 25-trial blocks. Intermittent presentation of the two kinds of trials yielded shorter latencies and higher levels of avoidance performance in response to the noise CSthan in response to the darkness CS. Presentation of trials in blocks revealed stronger response-eliciting properties of stimuli presented during the second half of the session than of those presented during the first half. A significant decrease of avoidance performance in the early portions of the delay period, an index of inhibition of delay, was obtained on auditory trials presented in the second half of the sessions. Results indicate that strong fear of the warning signal is required for inhibition of delay of avoidance responses. Two-wayavoidance training typically results in a gradual increase in the proportion ofcrossing responses performed during the warning-signal period, and a corresponding decrease in responses during subsequent aversive stimulation. At the outset of training, the rat changes compartments in response to painful stimulation. Fleeing, an innate species-specific defense reaction of rats (Bolles, 1970(Bolles, , 1971, soon becomes the dominant mode of behavior to pain and also to the events signaling painful stimulation. The data showing that escape and avoidance response latencies do not change in the course of training conducted in the shuttlebox (Bolles, Moot, & Nelson, 1976) were in agreement with such an understanding of instrumental defensive responding.A number of experiments yielded results that opposed the assertion of Bolleset al. (1976) concerning the invariance of response latencies in shuttlebox avoidance learning. Shortening of the two-way avoidance response latency was noted during a single training session (Bond, 1981;Galvani & Twitty, 1978). In Starr and Mineka's (1977) experiments, the mean avoidance response latencyThe present research was supported by a statutable grant from the State Committee for Scientific Research to the Nencki Institute. We thank W. Lawicka and 8. Zemicki for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Correspondence should be addressed to K. Zielinski, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, 3 Pasteur St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland (e-mail: ziel@nencki.gov.pl.).-Accepted by previous editor. Vincent M. LoLordo shortened by half a second between the first three and the last three avoidances in a series of 27 consecutive nonshock trials. In the W. R. McAllister, D. E. McAllister, Dieter, and James (1979) study, significant shortening of the avoidance response latency was observed during the second session in rats trained with strong, but not with weak, shock.It seems, however, that during extended training, more complex changes in avoidance response latencies occurred. In our recent experiments on rats trained in twoway avoidance, a sh...

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supporting

confidence: 71%

supporting

confidence: 71%

Inhibition of delay of the two-way avoidance response and warning-signal salience

Zieliński

Werka

Wilson

et al. 1995

Animal Learning & Behavior

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“…Nevertheless, at both shock levels, escape latencies decreased over trials, and with strong shock, avoidance latencies decreased over trials on Day 2. These findings are contrary to the contention of Bolles, Moot, and Nelson (1976) that escape and avoidance latencies are invariant.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Preexposure to situational cues produces a direct relationship between two-way avoidance learning and shock intensity

McAllister

Dieter

et al. 1979

Animal Learning & Behavior

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In Experiment I, four groups of subjects (n = 16 each) were exposed to the situational stimuli of a shuttlebox apparatus for 4 h. Subsequently, 200 two-way avoidance trials were administered (100/day) with either .3-or 1.6-mA shock and with either small or large reward (presence or absence of visual stimuli following the response). Avoidance performance was directly related to shock intensity on both days and to magnitude of reward on the 2nd day. In Experiment 2, four groups of subjects (n = 24 each) were given 4 h of exposure either to the situational stimuli of the shuttlebox or to a neutral box. Then, 10 two-way avoidance trials were given with 1.6-mA shock. Subsequently, subjects were allowed to escape from one of the shuttlebox compartments to an adjacent safe box. Following preexposure to situational stimuli, avoidance performance was superior whereas escape-from-fear performance was inferior. This latter finding demonstrated that less fear of situational cues was present during avoidance training in the preexposed condition. All of these results support the effective reinforcement theory, an extension of two-factor theory, which emphasizes the importance for avoidance learning of the amount of fear of situational cues present following a response. 165In a one-way task in which subjects can avoid shock by moving to an area distinctively different from the one where shock is administered, avoidance performance has been found to be directly related to shock intensity (Dieter, 1976;Moyer & Korn, 1966). However, when an avoidance response does not remove the subject from situational stimuli which have been paired with shock, as in signaled two-way or barpress avoidance tasks, performance has been found to be related inversely to shock intensity, at least within the range of intensities usually employed. This latter finding is, in fact, one of the most reliable in the avoidance learning literature (e. A theoretical position which seems to account for the above findings is the effective reinforcement theory proposed by McAllister et al. (1971McAllister et al. ( , 1976 as an extension of the two-factor theory of avoidance learning (Mowrer, 1947). According to this position, the effective reinforcement for an avoidance response is related (a) positively to the amount of fear reduction occurring with the response and (b) negatively to the amount of fear present following the response. In addition, as the total amount of fear increases, it is assumed that the amount of fear present following the response (b) becomes relatively more important than the amount of fear reduction (a) in determining effective reinforcement. In the signaled twoway avoidance task, fear becomes conditioned to both the discrete conditioned stimulus (CS) and to the situational cues of each shuttle compartment when shock occurs on escape trials, with more fear being conditioned to these stimuli the more intense the shock. Although the amount of fear reduction would be greater in a strong-than in a weak-shock group when the CS is terminated fo...

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“…Possible indirect support for the problem-situation stage identified here is provided by published data on the dynamics of the latent periods of escape responses in the first session of training to two-way avoidance in the shuttle box [8,10]. Brush studied a large number (220) of rats and showed that the latent periods of the escape response increased by the sixth trial and then gradually decreased.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Only after a more or less prolonged period of solving the problem situation, during which the freezing response was initially repeated continuously and then alternated with fast escape responses, did rats make the transition to continuous performance of the operant avoidance response. It is likely that complete phenomenological similarity between the innate escape response and the acquired avoidance response in the shuttle box has led some authors to the conclusion that escape in the shuttle box is an unconditioned response to the shock [8,12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Studies of individual differences as a method for discriminating the stages of acquisition of a conditioned reflex

Savonenko

Danilets

1999

Neurosci Behav Physiol

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Learning of a two-way active avoidance response in a shuttle box, which reflects the establishment of a complex reflex, was characterized by a high level of individual variability for learning measures. Our previous report (Savonenko and Zelin'ski, 1997) showed that rats with different rates of learning have different parameters for the freezing response, demonstrating that the animals' behavior shows a conflicting drive not to enter into the other half of the box. We analyze here the sequence of freezing, avoidance, and escape responses in groups of rats with different rates of learning. The results support the hypothesis that the need to overcome conflict is a separate stage of learning, occurring before the stage at which the avoidance response forms and stabilizes.

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Note on the invariance of response latency in shuttlebox avoidance learning

Cited by 13 publications

References 2 publications

Inhibition of delay of the two-way avoidance response and warning-signal salience

Inhibition of delay of the two-way avoidance response and warning-signal salience

Preexposure to situational cues produces a direct relationship between two-way avoidance learning and shock intensity

Studies of individual differences as a method for discriminating the stages of acquisition of a conditioned reflex

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