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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Learned helplessness in the rat: Effect of response topography in a within-subject design

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Author(s):
Valerio dos Santos, Cristiano [1] ; Gehm, Tauane [2] ; Leite Hunziker, Maria Helena [2]
Total Authors: 3
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco - Mexico
[2] Univ Sao Paulo, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 2
Document type: Journal article
Source: Behavioural Processes; v. 86, n. 2, p. 178-183, FEB 2011.
Web of Science Citations: 1
Abstract

Three experiments investigated learned helplessness in rats manipulating response topography within-subject and different intervals between treatment and tests among groups. In Experiment 1, rats previously exposed to inescapable shocks were tested under an escape contingency where either jumping or nose poking was required to terminate shocks: tests were run either 1, 14 or 28 days after treatment. Most rats failed to jump, as expected, but learned to nose poke, regardless of the interval between treatment and tests and order of testing. The same results were observed in male and female rats from a different laboratory (Experiment 2) and despite increased exposure to the escape contingencies using a within-subject design (Experiment 3). Furthermore, no evidence of helplessness reversal was observed, since animals failed to jump even after having learned to nose-poke in a previous test session. These results are not consistent with a learned helplessness hypothesis, which claims that shock (un)controllability is the key variable responsible for the effect. They are nonetheless consistent with the view that inescapable shocks enhance control by irrelevant features of the relationship between the environment and behavior. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)