Abstract
I PROPOSED earlier1,2 that mild fear facilitates exploratory behaviour whereas strong fear inhibits it. If an animal is placed in a maze, with time it becomes habituated to the fear aroused by the maze stimuli. It is therefore to be expected that, at first, strong fear will inhibit the exploratory behaviour of rats, but with time the fear should become milder and exploratory behaviour will be facilitated. Eventually the level of fear of the rats should be minimal and exploratory behaviour of the rats will sink to some base level.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Lester, D., Psychol. Rec., 17, 55 (1967).
Lester, D., J. Gen. Psychol., 79, 105 (1968).
Sheldon, M. H., Psychon. Sci., 11, 38 (1968).
Lester, D., Psychon. Sci. (in the press).
Montgomery, K. C., J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., 48, 254 (1955).
Lester, D., Psychon. Sci., 8, 7 (1967).
Siegel, S., Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (McGraw-Hill, 1956).
Lester, D., Psychon. Sci., 9, 117 (1967).
Lester, D., Psychon. Sci., 10, 385 (1968).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
LESTER, D. Effects of Habituation to Fear on the Exploratory Behaviour of Rats. Nature 220, 932 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/220932a0
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/220932a0
This article is cited by
-
An automated method for studying exploratory and stereotyped behaviour in rats
Psychopharmacology (1977)
-
Effect of oxprenolol on some fear-induced behavioral responses and hyperthermia in rats subjected to inescapable shocks
Psychopharmacology (1976)
-
Effects of floor textures on open-field behavior in selected lines of mice
Behavior Genetics (1976)
-
Effect of psychotropic drugs on capacity for mental and physical work in rats
Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine (1975)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.