Alleviation of learned helplessness in the dog.

Dogs given inescapable shock in a Pavlovian harness later seem to give up and passively accept traumatic shock in shuttlebox escape/avoidance training. A theoretical analysis of this phenomenon was presented. As predicted by this analysis, the failure to escape was alleviated by repeatedly compelling the dog to make the response which terminated shock. This maladaptive passive behavior in the face of trauma may be related to maladaptive passive behavior in humans. The importance of instrumental control over aversive events in the cause, prevention, and treatment of such behaviors was discussed. This paper discusses a procedure that produces a striking behavior abnormality in dogs, outlines an analysis which predicts a method for eliminating the abnormality, and presents data which support the prediction. When a normal, naive dog receives escape/avoidance training in a shuttlebox, the following behavior typically occurs: At the onset of electric shock, the dog runs frantically about, defecating, urinating, and howling, until it scrambles over the barrier and so escapes from shock. On the next trial, the dog, running and howling, crosses the barrier more quickly, and so on until efficient avoidance emerges. See Solomon and Wynne (1953) for a detailed description. Overmier and Seligman (1967) have reported the behavior of dogs which had received inescapable shock while strapped in a Pavlovian harness 24 hr. before shuttlebox training. Typically, such a dog reacts initially to shock in the shuttlebox in the same manner as the naive dog. However, in dramatic contrast to the naive dog, it soon stops running 1 This research was supported by grants to R. L.