PASSIVE AND ACTIVE REACTIONS TO FEAR-ELICITING STIMULI

When shock was given in a circular runway, a single shock from a moving shock prod produced reliable prod avoidance and reliably decreased intertrial interval activity for 24 naive male albino rats. Also, a reliable positive correlation was obtained for avoidance scores and intertrial activity in these Ss. Ss shocked by the prod outside the runway were more active in the runway and had higher prod-avoidance scores than Ss shocked in the runway. Results indicate that fear may be conditioned in a single shock trial, and that fear produces reactions which vary with certain characteristics of the fear-eliciting stimulus: fearful situations produce immobility, while discrete approaching stimuli which elicit fear produce active avoidance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.