Abstract
In a previous study, rats reared in overcrowded environments exhibited characteristics similar to those of the learned helplessness phenomenon described following exposure to inescapable shock. In the present study, rats reared alone or in groups of 4 or 32 for 50 days after weaning were tested in a shuttlebox, for which two successive crossings were required to avoid or escape shock. Ten rats from each population group received inescapable shock prior to shuttlebox training, while another 10 were identically handled, but not shocked. Rats given inescapable shock failed to perform the shuttlebox task, regardless of the size of the population with which they were reared. Rats not preshocked performed the shuttle task, although those reared in groups of 32 required several trials to reach the level of the smaller groups. The results indicate that impaired learning following overcrowded rearing does not result from helplessness-like behavior.
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Supported by Grants NSF Gy 8744, MH 19135, MH 19326, and the University of Illinois Research Board.
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Goeckner, D.J., Greenough, W.T. & Maier, S.F. Escape learning deficit after overcrowded rearing in rats: Test of a helplessness hypothesis. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 3, 54–56 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333392
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333392