Abstract
Thirty-six female guinea pigs were trained to avoid shock in a one-way Miller-type avoidance box and then were given conventional extinction trials with the shocker disconnected. Just prior to extinction, the animals were divided into three different groups and were given either no treatment (immediate extinction), flooding (response prevention) for 15 min, or a 15-min period in a neutral situation. (Flooding consisted of thwarting the avoidance response while forcing the guinea pig to remain in the fear compartment of the Miller box). The results paralleled those obtained with rats in that flooding led to more rapid extinction of the avoidance response than did the other manipulations.
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This research was supported by a grant to Morrie Baum from the National Research Council of Canada and by funds from the Bishop’s University Committee on Graduate Studies and Research.
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Baum, M., Higgins, J.A. Extinction of an avoidance response using response prevention (flooding) in the guinea pig. Psychon Sci 25, 3–4 (1971). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335827
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335827