Conditional Control of Instrumental Avoidance by Context Following Extinction

Abstract

Using rodents, three training arrangements (i.e., ABB vs. ABA, AAA vs. AAB and ABB vs. ABC) explored whether extinction influences the expression of avoidance in a manner controlled by context. Retention testing following extinction showed that more avoidance responding (i.e., renewal) was observed when extinguished cues were tested outside of the context where they had undergone extinction. In contrast, response rates were significantly lower when stimuli were tested within the context where extinction learning had occurred. These findings add to the emerging literature assessing the role of Pavlovian extinction processes in the development of instrumental avoidance responding by demonstrating conditional control over extinguished responding by context. This study was conducted using a within-subjects approach that minimized the potential for context-outcome associations to bias responding, and thus, reflects hierarchical control over behavior based on the specific associative status of each tested cue in each training context.

22kHz Ultrasonic Vocalizations and Body Freezing May Represent Two Systems of Fear in Rodent Fear Conditioning Paradigms

“…While the debate surrounding LeDoux's "two-system" framework and the nature and definition of fear is primarily centered on human subjects, the importance of animal models in fear research and the implications of updating the concept of fear for animal experiments cannot be overlooked [32]. Recent studies have expanded from focusing on freezing to include more active defensive behaviors, such as flight or active avoidance, to discuss a range of response patterns in rats facing threats [33][34][35][36][37]. As a crucial part of "conscious fear," the subjective fear in animals plays a vital role in our understanding of human fears.…”

From Biological Synapses to “Intelligent” Robots

“…One of the ambitions of biologically inspired neural coding in models for robot control is to characterize and provide a plausible brain model for the behavioral neuroscience of reinforcement and extinction [12,13].…”

“…One of the ambitions of biologically inspired neural coding in models for robot control is to characterize and provide a plausible brain model for the behavioral neuroscience of reinforcement and extinction [12,13]. These are phenomena in which a behavior that has been acquired through reinforcement in operant learning decreases in strength until its full extinction when the outcome or event that reinforced it is no longer occurring (Figure 2).…”