VARIATIONS IN UNSIGNALED INESCAPABLE PRESHOCK AS DETERMINANTS OF RESPONSES TO PUNISHMENT

5 EXPERIMENTS WITH NAIVE MALE ALBINO RATS DEMONSTRATED THAT (1) UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES EFFECTS OF INESCAPABLE PRESHOCK MAY BE REVEALED IN A TEST SITUATION NOT INVOLVING DIRECT EXPOSURE TO PUNISHMENT, (2) PRESHOCK EFFECT DEPENDS UPON SCHEDULES OF PRESHOCK, (3) PRESHOCK CAN PRODUCE CHRONIC CHANGES IN ACTIVATION SYSTEMS AS REVEALED THROUGH ALTERATIONS IN EXTINCTION OF PAVLOVIAN FEAR RESPONSES, AND (4) PRESHOCK ALTERS THRESHOLD RESPONSIVENESS TO SUBSEQUENT PUNISHMENT. BASAL SKIN RESISTANCE CHANGES, IN GENERAL, PARALLELED BEHAVIORAL FINDINGS AND SUPPORTED THE SUPPOSITION OF INCREASED FEARFULNESS FOR TREATED SS. FOLLOWING CONSIDERATION OF SEVERAL HYPOTHESES, AN ALTERNATIVE THEORETICAL MODEL WAS PROPOSED INVOLVING CONDITIONING TO GENERALIZED MEDIATIONAL STIMULI PRODUCED BY AVERSIVE STIMULATION, REGARDLESS OF SOURCE OR QUALITATIVE NATURE. (31 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1968 American Psychological Association.