Learned helplessness in the rat: Time course, immunization, and reversibility.

Previous research has shown that rats, like dogs, fail to escape following exposure to inescapable shock. 3 experiments were conducted with a total of 121 male Sprague-Dawley rats to further explore parallels between rat and dog helplessness. The failure to escape did not dissipate in time; Ss failed to escape 5 min, 1 hr, 4 hrs, 24 hrs, and 1 wk after receiving inescapable shock. Ss that first learned to jump up to escape were not retarded later at barpressing to escape following inescapable shock. Failure to escape could be broken up by forcibly exposing the S to an escape contingency. Therefore, the effects of inescapable shock in the rat parallel learned helplessness effects in the dog. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)