Extinction and Avoidance Behavior in Animals: Flooding, Free-Operant Procedures, and SSDRs

What is the primary focus of the study on avoidance behavior?

Understanding how avoidance behavior can be extinguished.

What does avoidance behavior rely on to persist?

The continued making of avoidance responses prevents the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus (US).

What is 'Flooding or Response Prevention' in the context of avoidance behavior?

A method that involves presenting the conditioned stimulus (CS) without allowing the subject to make avoidance responses.

What did Schiff, Smith, and Prochaska (1972) demonstrate in their study on rats?

They used flooding to extinguish avoidance behavior by blocking access to a safe compartment.

What is the goal of the flooding procedure in rats?

To expose rats to the CS without the opportunity to escape or avoid, thereby extinguishing avoidance behavior.

What is the significance of the 'safety period' in nondiscriminated avoidance procedures?

It is the period during which no shock is delivered after an avoidance response, determined by the response-shock (R-S) interval.

How does the absence of a warning signal affect avoidance behavior?

In nondiscriminated avoidance, the subject can still learn to avoid shocks without a warning signal.

What is the difference between S-S and R-S intervals in avoidance behavior?

S-S interval is the fixed time between shocks, while R-S interval is the time after a response during which no shock is delivered.

What did Lejeuz et al. (1998) demonstrate about free-operant avoidance in humans?

Subjects could avoid CO₂ deliveries by pulling a plunger, even without being explicitly told they could avoid it.

What is the role of temporal cues in free-operant avoidance learning?

Temporal cues can condition fear responses, allowing animals to predict when the next shock will occur.

What are species-specific defense reactions (SSDRs)?

Innate response mechanisms that animals evolved to quickly learn avoidance behavior in the wild.

How does the environment influence which SSDR is activated?

The specific SSDR activated depends on whether escape is possible or not.

What happens if an animal cannot escape from a threat?

The animal may resort to freezing as a defense mechanism.

What is the significance of the study by Solomon, Kamin, & Wynne (1953)?

They reported a dog avoiding shock on 650 consecutive trials after only three shocks, highlighting persistence in avoidance behavior.

What is the outcome of repeated exposure to the CS without the US in avoidance behavior?

It leads to the extinction of the avoidance response.

What is the main question regarding the extinction of avoidance behavior?

How can avoidance behavior be extinguished in subjects that have learned to avoid shocks?

What is the primary method used to test extinction in avoidance behavior studies?

Removing barriers and presenting the CS until the subject no longer avoids the safe compartment.

What does the term 'nondiscriminated avoidance' refer to?

Avoidance procedures that do not involve a warning stimulus.

What is the effect of avoidance responses on the R-S safety period?

Each avoidance response resets the R-S safety period, allowing indefinite avoidance of shocks.

What is the significance of the findings from the studies on free-operant avoidance?

They suggest that avoidance can occur without explicit cues, relying instead on internal timing mechanisms.

How does fear reduction reinforce avoidance responding?

The termination of fear-inducing stimuli reinforces the behavior that led to its cessation.