Some properties of the warning stimulus in avoidance behavior.

Abstract

Using a procedure involving no exteroceptive warning, avoidance behavior (escaping electric shock by lever-pressing) was conditioned in rats and cats. After establishment of rate and temporal distributions under these conditions, an exteroceptive warning signal was introduced. The warning signal increased the probability of shock avoidance response, and in the case of the rats, facilitated development of a temporal discrimination. "This discrimination eventually acquires a degree of control over behavior which, under some conditions, may actually surpass that exercised by the stimulus." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)