Discriminated conditioned suppression in rats

This experiment evaluated the effects of superimposing the Estes-Skinner Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) procedure on one of two components of a multiple schedule. The question was whether CER conditioning occurred under contextual control. The procedure had four experimental phases: (1) baseline of operant responding under a two-component multiple schedule (mult VI 30 VI 30), one component correlated with the house light on and the other correlated with the house light off (light/dark components), (2) introduction of tone-shock pairings during the light component only, (3) return to baseline contingencies, and (4) reintroduction of the tone (but not shock) in the light component. Three Wistar rats showed robust suppression of responding in the light component, and the suppression also partially generalized to the dark component. The suppression was stronger during the pre-aversive stimulus than during the intervals immediately before and after its presentation. Responding partially recovered under baseline contingencies, but response rates remained lower in the light component than in the dark component. Thus, under the present experimental conditions, the context in which CER conditioning occurred (i.e., the house light-illuminated chamber) also produced conditioned suppression, and contextual control of suppressed responding generalized to another context, one that shared some but not all elements of the first context (i.e., the same chamber not illuminated by a house light). These results have direct implications for our understanding of emotional conditioning produced in the laboratory and for analysis of related phenomena addressed in the clinic.

Subchronic effects of fluoxetine on conditioned suppression produced by a hot air blast

Conditioned suppression is an animal model of anxiety disorders that has been broadly used to investigate the behavioral effects of different drugs. However, various methodological variables (e.g., the type of aversive stimulus) that supposedly interfere with the acquisition of conditioned suppression may also contribute to conflicting results among the studied drugs. Additionally, few studies have sought to investigate the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The present study investigated the effect of subchronic 5-day administration of 5 mg/kg fluoxetine in the retention of conditioned suppression produced by a hot air blast (HAB). The subjects were 12 albino Wistar rats distributed into an Experimental Group (EG) and Control Group (CG). After sessions were conducted to pair two stimuli, a sound and HAB, fluoxetine (EG) or saline (CG) was administered. Twenty-four hours after the last injection, a test session was conducted. The results showed no difference between groups. Fluoxetine (5 mg/kg) did not exert anxiolytic effects in this model of conditioned suppression produced by a HAB.

O conceito de ansiedade na análise do comportamento / The concept of anxiety in behavior analysis

O conceito de ansiedade tem sido empregado na Análise do Comportamento sob controle de diferentes eventos ou relações. Neste artigo, oferecemos uma revisão dos modos como a análise do comportamento tem concebido teórica e conceitualmente o fenômeno da ansiedade e das relações que são colocadas em destaque nessas elaborações. Iniciamos com uma descrição dos usos correntes do conceito de ansiedade, assinalando que variam quanto ao papel atribuído às alterações fisiológicas, à definição das relações respondentes e operantes, verbais e não verbais, e às implicações para a terapia verbal. Discutimos, em seguida, essas variações, salientando que representam visões complementares de um fenômeno complexo, em que eventos adquirem diferentes funções a partir de processos de condicionamento direto e indireto. Finalmente, caracterizamos alguns aspectos definidores da ansiedade à luz do enfoque analítico-comportamental e argumentamos que as elaborações revisadas sugerem que a ansiedade, como problema clínico, pode guardar relação com repertórios de autocontrole.

The concept of anxiety has been used in Behavior Analysis under the control of different events or relations. In this article, we offer a theoretical and conceptual review of behavior-analytic approaches for anxiety, and of the behavioral relations that are highlighted in the literature. We start with a description of the current usages of the concept of anxiety. We point out that such usages vary from the role assigned to physiological changes, to the definition of respondent and operant relations (verbal and non-verbal) and to the implications for verbal therapy. We, then, discuss such variations as complementary explanations for a complex phenomenon, in which events acquire several functions, through processes of direct and indirect conditioning. Finally, we summarize some defining characteristics of anxiety from a behavior-analytic standpoint, and we argue that, as a clinical disorder, anxiety may be related to self-control.