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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 28, 2026

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Is fear present following sustained asymptotic avoidance responding?

J E Smith1, D J Levis2

  • 1University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Behavioural Processes
|June 5, 2014
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Summary

Fear, not expectancy, drives avoidance behavior in rats. Even after extensive training, fear responses persisted, supporting the fear theory of avoidance learning.

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Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • Avoidance behavior is crucial in understanding fear and anxiety disorders.
  • Existing theories propose either fear or expectancy as the primary driver of avoidance responses.
  • Seligman and Johnston (1973) proposed a direct test to differentiate these interpretations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To directly test whether fear or expectancy underlies avoidance behavior in rats during extinction.
  • To investigate the persistence of fear responses despite sustained avoidance learning.

Main Methods:

  • Three groups of rats received discrete-trial avoidance training in a shuttlebox apparatus.
  • Training continued until criterion performance (5, 25, or 50 consecutive avoidance responses) was met.
  • A lick suppression paradigm was used as a transfer test to assess fear conditioning to the conditioned stimulus (CS).

Main Results:

  • All groups demonstrated significant lick suppression to the CS, indicating the presence of fear.
  • Fear responses were evident even in the group trained to 50 consecutive avoidance responses.
  • Data contradicted expectancy theory predictions and supported fear theory.

Conclusions:

  • Fear, rather than expectancy, is the primary motivator for sustained avoidance responding.
  • Fear conditioning is robust and persists even with extensive avoidance training.
  • Findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms of fear and anxiety.