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Heart Rate as an Avoidance Response

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Abstract

Two experiments are described in which predefined heart rate changes served to escape or avoid an aversive stimulus complex. In the first experiment low heart rates within S’s repertoire were effective in avoiding the aversive stimuli and in the second, high heart rates were the effective response. All Ss received visual feedback of criterion and non-criterion heart rate responses. Comparison of the performances of experimental and yoked control Ss supports a conclusion that heart rate may be subject to the Law of Effect.

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Author notes

  1. Jasper Brener

    Present address: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Birkbeck College, University of London, UK

    Jasper Brener

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  1. Jasper Brener
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Additional information

This research was supported by a grant made available by the Foundation’s fund for Research in Psychiatry to H. M. B. Hurwitz.

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Brener, J. Heart Rate as an Avoidance Response. Psychol Rec 16, 329–336 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393676

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03393676

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