Escape-from-Shock Training following Exposure to Inescapable Shock

Abstract

In this experiment we have studied the effects of exposing rats to non-terminable shock on their subsequent utilization of bar pressing as a means of terminating the shock. Our main findings were: (a) that a 15-min. period of prior exposure significantly delayed the first press in training and significantly reduced the number of presses within a 35-min. session; and (b) that a 15-min. period of exposure between training and extinction altered the shape rather than the initial slope of the extinction curves, producing a significantly more rapid decline in the rate of pressing. These results indicate that competing behavior is acquired when no authorized escape response is available, and that this behavior interferes with the escape response when this is at a low strength but is itself suppressed when the escape response is at a high strength.