This chapter attempts to answer the following linked questions: 

1

What is the simplest adequate description of the effects of the “minor tranquilizers” on “emotional behavior” (terms I shall define below)?




2

What underlying psychological processes are altered by these drugs to produce these behavioral effects, and in what way are they altered?




3

On what brain structures or systems do these drugs act to produce these behavioral effects?

Drug Effects on Fear and Frustration: Possible Limbic Site of Action of Minor Tranquilizers

The contingency between conditional and unconditional stimuli in classical conditioning paradigms, and between responses and consequences in instrumental conditioning paradigms, is analyzed. The results are represented in two- and three-dimensional spaces in which points correspond to procedures, or procedures and outcomes. Traditional statistical and psychological measures of association are applied to data in classical conditioning. Root mean square contingency, o, is proposed as a measure of contingency characterizing classical conditioning effects at asymptote. In instrumental training procedures, traditional measures of association are inappropriate, since one degree of freedom—response probability—is yielded to the subject. Further analysis of instrumental contingencies yields a surprising result. The well established “Matching Law” in free-operant concurrent schedules subsumes the “Probability Matching” finding of mathematical learning theory, and both are equivalent to zero contingency between responses and consequences.

/pdf/contingency-spaces-and-measures-in-classical-and-3258sj64z4.pdf

Contingency spaces and measures in classical and instrumental conditioning.

This paper reviews progress since the author's previous writings in three areas. In escape training, the preparatory-response explanation of bar holding still appears to be valid. In avoidance, the newer safety-signal version of two-factor theory has much to recommend it and readily incorporates Anger's conditioned aversive temporal stimuli formulation. Shock-density reduction is rejected as a substitute for two-factor theory. Finally, criticisms of the avoidance interpretation of punishment are answered and recent empirical data are cited in its support.

Escape, avoidance, punishment: where do we stand?

Learned Irrelevance and Learned Helplessness: Rats Learn that Stimuli, Reinforcers, and Responses are Uncorrelated.

Serotonin modulates the effects of Pavlovian aversive predictions on response vigor.

Discriminative punishment and the conditioned emotional response

Contingency between a response and an aversive event in the rat.

The Convective Thermal Controller (CTC) is designed to provide rapid and precise control of a thermal stimulus for application to behavioral experiments with small animals. Subjects are bathed in one of two continuously recirculating air systems; two valves determine which of the systems play on S. When the systems are stabilized at different temperatures, actuation of the valves can produce an abrupt and stable temperature change in .3 sec. Behavioral observations indicate that escape learning occurs readily; latency decreases monotonically with drive intensity and increases monotonically with reinforcement duration.

/pdf/a-convective-thermal-controller-for-behavioral-experiments-1ixs590628.pdf

A convective thermal controller for behavioral experiments

The study of thermally motivated instrumental behavior was extended to the avoidance-conditioning paradigm. Six Ss were trained on a thermal Sidman avoidance schedule. The UCS temperature and the ambient temperature were varied, while the temporal properties of the schedule were held constant. The results indicated that whenever the difference between the two thermal conditions is sufficient to sustain responding, the probability of an avoidance response is related to the mean of the UCS and ambient temperatures.

/pdf/avoidance-of-thermal-stimuli-in-the-rat-1cydylo3or.pdf

T. James Matthews

Papers

Discriminative punishment and the conditioned emotional response

Contingency between a response and an aversive event in the rat.

A convective thermal controller for behavioral experiments

Avoidance of thermal stimuli in the rat