Studies of fear as an acquirable drive: I. Fear as motivation and fear-reduction as reinforcement in the learning of new responses

Abstract

Albino rats were trained to go from a white compartment through an open door into a black compartment in order to escape from electric shock. "To demonstrate that an acquired drive (fear or anxiety) had been established, the animals were taught a new habit without further shocks. The door (previously always open) was closed. The only way that the door could be opened was by rotating a little wheel, which was above the door, a fraction of a turn. Under these conditions, the animals exhibited trial-and-error behavior and gradually learned to escape from the white compartment by rotating the wheel. If conditions were changed so that only pressing a bar would open the door, wheel turning extinguished, and a second new habit (bar pressing) was learned. Control experiments demonstrated that the learning of the new habits was dependent upon having received moderately strong electric shocks during the first stages of training." 18 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1948 American Psychological Association.