Abstract
Several prior studies have demonstrated suppression of an appetitively motivated response (relative to controls) acquired on the basis of prior aversive motivation. These studies used a small number of escape-acquisition trials prior to transferring a runway response across drive-reinforcement conditions. The present study was an attempt to determine if an avoidance procedure, as well as an escape procedure, in the aversive phase, would produce suppression in transferring to hunger-motivated responding. It also constituted an effort to determine the influence of extended aversive training on the degree of suppression. Four experimental groups of rats were used in a 2 by 2 factorial study (aversive condition: escape or avoidance by number of aversive trials: 15 or 45). Each group was subsequently food deprived and transferred to hunger-motivated responding in the same runway. The experimental groups started and rail at about the same suppressed speeds, relative to a hunger-motivated control group given no prior aversive training. These results replicate the basic suppression effect and extend it to animals given prolonged aversive training. Further, the effect is demonstrable with prior avoidance as well as with prior escape training. Possible explanations of suppression are presented.
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This investigation was supported in part by Grant MH-11183 from the National Institute of Mental Health to H. Babb and by a National Defense Educational Act Fellowship to G. R. Stoffer.
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Stoffer, G.R., Babb, H. Transfer suppression of a hunger-motivated response as a function of the number of prior escape or avoidance trials. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 7, 471–474 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337250
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337250