Abstract
Female rats trained to traverse a runway to escape bright light while thirsty ran faster than ones trained while water-satiated. Taken together with the results of a number of other studies, this observation supports the generalization that hunger or thirst depresses performance on manipulandum escape or avoidance and facilitates performance when locomotion is required for escape or avoidance. We suggest that species-specific defensive reactions elicited by the aversive stimulus interact with the required escape or avoidance response and with food- or water-seeking behavior elicited by deprivation to determine the effect of deprivation on escape or avoidance.
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This research was supported in part by a grant from the University of San Diego Associated Students to the second author.
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Moriarty, D.D., Elwin, E.K. & Allen, J.L. The effect of thirst on locomotor light escape in rats. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 25, 211–212 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330332
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330332