Effect of Escape versus Non-Escape Responses from the Goal Box during Extinction

1966 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 447-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald V. Barrett ◽  
Nils James Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Escape Response ◽  
Food Reward ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Running Speed ◽  
Theoretical System ◽  
Drive Theory ◽  
Escape Responses

Animals were trained in a runway under conditions of food reward and extinguished under conditions which either allowed escape into a second runway or resulted in confinement in the empty goal box (Non-escape group). The hypothesis derived from Hullian theory stated that an Escape group which was forced to perform twice the work of a Non-escape group for an equal number of non-reinforced trials would extinguish faster. The alternative hypothesis derived from elicitation theory predicted the reverse because the Escape group is allowed a compatible escape response from the frustrating situation while the Non-escape group can only make incompatible responses in the nonreinforced goal box which will interfere with the original learned response. The Hullian hypothesis was supported only on the first day of extinction. The following days the Escape group increased their running speed and data supported the elicitation theory. The Non-escape group also failed to extinguish which is hard to explain in terms of either theoretical system. It was suggested that a frustration drive theory might better account for the data.

scholarly journals Escaping from multiple visual threats: Modulation of escape responses in Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hibiki Kimura ◽  
Tilo Pfalzgraff ◽  
Marie Levet ◽  
Yuuki Kawabata ◽  
John F Steffensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Escape Response ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
Leptocottus Armatus ◽  
Stage 1 ◽  
Staghorn Sculpin

Fish perform rapid escape responses to avoid sudden predatory attacks. During escape responses, fish bend their bodies into a C-shape and quickly turn away from the predator and accelerate. The escape trajectory is determined by the initial turn (Stage 1) and a contralateral bend (Stage 2). Previous studies have used a single threat or model predator as a stimulus. In nature, however, multiple predators may attack from different directions simultaneously or in close succession. It is unknown whether fish are able to change the course of their escape response when startled by multiple stimuli at various time intervals. Pacific staghorn sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) were startled with a left and right visual stimulus in close succession. By varying the timing of the second stimulus, we were able to determine when and how a second stimulus could affect the escape response direction. Four treatments were used: a single visual stimulus (control); or two stimuli coming from opposite sides separated by a 0 ms (simultaneous treatment); a 33 ms; or a 83 ms time interval. The 33 ms and 83 ms time intervals were chosen to occur shortly before and after a predicted 60 ms visual escape latency (i.e. during Stage 1). The 0 ms and 33 ms treatments influenced both the escape trajectory and the Stage 1 turning angle, compared to a single stimulation, whereas the 83 ms treatment had no effect on the escape response. We conclude that Pacific staghorn sculpin can modulate their escape response only between stimulation and the onset of the response, but that escape responses are ballistic after the body motion has started.

Effects of metamorphosis on the aquatic escape response of the two-lined salamander (Eurycea bislineata)

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (6) ◽  
pp. 841-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuel Azizi ◽  
Tobias Landberg
Keyword(s):  
Aspect Ratio ◽  
Escape Response ◽  
Analysis Of Covariance ◽  
Locomotor Performance ◽  
Escape Performance ◽  
Total Length ◽  
Maximum Curvature ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
Eurycea Bislineata ◽  
Stage 1

SUMMARYAlthough numerous studies have described the escape kinematics of fishes, little is known about the aquatic escape responses of salamanders. We compare the escape kinematics of larval and adult Eurycea bislineata, the two-lined salamander, to examine the effects of metamorphosis on aquatic escape performance. We hypothesize that shape changes associated with resorption of the larval tail fin at metamorphosis will affect aquatic locomotor performance. Escape responses were recorded using high-speed video, and the effects of life stage and total length on escape kinematics were analyzed statistically using analysis of covariance. Our results show that both larval and adult E. bislineata use a two-stage escape response (similar to the C-starts of fishes) that consists of a preparatory (stage 1) and a propulsive (stage 2) stroke. The duration of both kinematic stages and the distance traveled during stage 2 increased with total length. Both larval and adult E. bislineata had final escape trajectories that were directed away from the stimulus. The main kinematic difference between larvae and adults is that adults exhibit significantly greater maximum curvature during stage 1. Total escape duration and the distance traveled during stage 2 did not differ significantly between larvae and adults. Despite the significantly lower tail aspect ratio of adults, we found no significant decrease in the overall escape performance of adult E. bislineata. Our results suggest that adults may compensate for the decrease in tail aspect ratio by increasing their maximum curvature. These findings do not support the hypothesis that larvae exhibit better locomotor performance than adults as a result of stronger selective pressures on early life stages.Movie available on-line: http://www.biologists.com/JEB/movies/jeb3978.html.

scholarly journals Male courtship song drives escape responses that are suppressed for successful mating

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliane Arez ◽  
Cecilia Mezzera ◽  
Ricardo M. Neto-Silva ◽  
Márcia M. Aranha ◽  
Sophie Dias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Escape Response ◽  
Walking Speed ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Courtship Song ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
Sexually Mature

AbstractPersuasion is a crucial component of the courtship ritual needed to overcome contact aversion. In fruit flies, it is well established that the male courtship song prompts receptivity in female flies, in part by causing sexually mature females to slow down and pause, allowing copulation. Whether the above receptivity behaviours require the suppression of contact avoidance or escape remains unknown. Here we show, through genetic manipulation of neurons we identified as required for female receptivity, that male song induces avoidance/escape responses that are suppressed in wild type flies. First, we show that silencing 70A09 neurons leads to an increase in escape, as females increase their walking speed during courtship together with an increase in jumping and a reduction in pausing. The increase in escape response is specific to courtship, as escape to a looming threat is not intensified. Activation of 70A09 neurons leads to pausing, confirming the role of these neurons in escape modulation. Finally, we show that the escape displays by the female result from the presence of a courting male and more specifically from the song produced by a courting male. Our results suggest that courtship song has a dual role, promoting both escape and pause in females and that escape is suppressed by the activity of 70A09 neurons, allowing mating to occur.

scholarly journals The effects of familiarity on escape responses in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley L. Wolcott ◽  
Alfredo F. Ojanguren ◽  
Miguel Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Escape Response ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Test Group ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Early Life Stages ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Reactive Distance ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
Predator Evasion

Predation is the main cause of mortality during early life stages. The ability to avoid and evade potential threats is, therefore, favoured to evolve during the early stages of life. It is also during these early stages that the process of familiarization occurs. It has long been recognized that associating with familiar individuals confers antipredator benefits. Yet gaps in our knowledge remain about how predator evasion is affected by social experience during early stages. In this study, we test the hypothesis that familiarization acquired during early life stages improves escape responses. Using the guppy Poecilia reticulata, we examine the effect of different recent social conditions in the three main components of predator evasion. Using high-speed motion analysis, we compared the number of individuals in each test group that responded to a visual stimulus, their reactive distance and magnitude of their response (maximum speed, maximum acceleration and distance) in groups composed either of familiar or non-familiar individuals. Contrary to the prediction, groups composed of familiar individuals were less responsive than groups of unfamiliar individuals. Reactive distance and magnitude of response were more dependent on individual size rather than on familiarity. Larger individuals reached higher maximum speeds and total distances in their escape response. Our result indicates that familiarity is likely to affect behaviour earlier in a predator-prey interaction, which then affects the behavioural component of the response. Taken together, our study contributes to previous ones by distinguishing which components of an escape response are modulated by familiarity.

Anxiety and Response Stereotypy: An Experimental Critique

1966 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Weiss ◽  
Julian Silverman
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Essential Feature ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Theory Model ◽  
Binary Choice ◽  
High Anxious ◽  
Drive Theory ◽  
Choice Tasks ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Response Choices

Studies of the relationship between the level of anxiety and degree of response stereotypy have reported findings which not only contradict one another but in varying degrees are inconsistent with both clinical and drive theory. The clinical expectation is that anxiety and response stereotypy are positively related, whereas drive theory predicts a negative relationship when response choices are equipotent. A study is reported wherein Ss were required to randomize choices regarding the outcomes of an “unbiased” coin. The essential feature of this task is that Ss must maintain a set for randomness. The results indicated: (1) high anxious Ss were more stereotyped than low anxious Ss, (2) the anxiety-stereotypy relationship depended upon the length of the response sequence analyzed, and (3) upon the temporal stage of the task (i.e., first vs second half). It was concluded that the drive-theory model is not applicable to measures of response stereotypy derived from binary choice tasks. An alternative hypothesis was presented which takes account of both experimental manipulations of drive level and changes in response stereotypy in terms of individual differences in attention responsiveness.

Escape behavior of Side-blotched Lizards (Uta stansburiana) in response to model predators

2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (12) ◽  
pp. 965-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.A. Wagner ◽  
P.A. Zani
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Escape Response ◽  
Escape Behavior ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Multiple Predators ◽  
Uta Stansburiana ◽  
Collared Lizard ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
Flight Initiation

Few field studies have tested for geographic variation in escape behavior and even fewer have examined responses of prey to multiple predators despite most prey occurring in multipredator environments. We performed 458 escape trials on Side-blotched Lizards (Uta stansburiana Baird and Girard, 1852) from 10 populations that differed in predator abundances. We quantified escape behavior of Side-blotched Lizards when approached with one of two model predators: a lizard (Great Basin Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus bicinctores N.M. Smith and Tanner, 1972)) or a snake (Western Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber mormon Baird and Girard, 1852)). Our results suggest that the escape responses of Side-blotched Lizards (flight initiation distance, distance fled, refuge entry) do not differ when approached by either a model predatory lizard or a model predatory snake. Nor do the escape responses of individual Side-blotched Lizards differ in relation to the abundances of predatory lizards or snakes in the local environment. Rather, only the directness of fleeing toward a refuge differed based on model predator type with Side-blotched Lizards fleeing more directly toward a refuge in response to a model lizard. These findings suggest that Side-blotched Lizards tend to use a more generalized escape response to approaching predators.

scholarly journals Theta-gamma cascades and running speed

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 444-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Sheremet ◽  
J. P. Kennedy ◽  
Y. Qin ◽  
Y. Zhou ◽  
S. D. Lovett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Gamma Oscillations ◽  
High Amplitude ◽  
Energy Cascade ◽  
Running Speed ◽  
Behavioral Correlates ◽  
Lower Amplitude ◽  
Phase Amplitude ◽  
The Brain

Oscillations in the hippocampal local field potential at theta and gamma frequencies are prominent during awake behavior and have demonstrated several behavioral correlates. Both oscillations have been observed to increase in amplitude and frequency as a function of running speed. Previous investigations, however, have examined the relationship between speed and each of these oscillation bands separately. Based on energy cascade models where “…perturbations of slow frequencies cause a cascade of energy dissipation at all frequency scales” (Buzsaki G. Rhythms of the Brain, 2006), we hypothesized that cross-frequency interactions between theta and gamma should increase as a function of speed. We examined these relationships across multiple layers of the CA1 subregion, which correspond to synaptic zones receiving different afferents. Across layers, we found a reliable correlation between the power of theta and the power of gamma, indicative of an amplitude-amplitude relationship. Moreover, there was an increase in the coherence between the power of gamma and the phase of theta, demonstrating increased phase-amplitude coupling with speed. Finally, at higher velocities, phase entrainment between theta and gamma increases. These results have important implications and provide new insights regarding how theta and gamma are integrated for neuronal circuit dynamics, with coupling strength determined by the excitatory drive within the hippocampus. Specifically, rather than arguing that different frequencies can be attributed to different psychological processes, we contend that cognitive processes occur across multiple frequency bands simultaneously with organization occurring as a function of the amount of energy iteratively propagated through the brain. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Often, the theta and gamma oscillations in the hippocampus have been believed to be a consequence of two marginally overlapping phenomena. This perspective, however, runs counter to an alternative hypothesis in which a slow-frequency, high-amplitude oscillation provides energy that cascades into higher frequency, lower amplitude oscillations. We found that as running speed increases, all measures of cross-frequency theta-gamma coupling intensify, providing evidence in favor of the energy cascade hypothesis.

scholarly journals The effects of familiarity on escape responses in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley L Wolcott ◽  
Miguel Barbosa ◽  
Alfredo F Ojanguren
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Escape Response ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Early Life Stages ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Reactive Distance ◽  
Trinidadian Guppy ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
Predator Evasion

Predation is the main driver of mortality during early life stages. The ability to avoid and evade potential threats is, therefore, favoured to evolve during the early stages of life. It is also during these early stages that the process of familiarization occurs. It has long been recognized that associating with familiar individuals confers anti predator benefits. Less, however, is known about how predator evasion is affected by social experience during early stages. In this study we test the hypothesis that familiarization acquired during early life stages improves anti predator escape responses. Using the Trinidadian guppy we examine the effect of different early social conditions in the three main components of predator evasion. Using high-speed motion analysis we compared the responsiveness, reactive distance and magnitude of the response (maximum speed, maximum acceleration and distance) of the response to a visual stimulus in groups composed either of familiar or non-familiar individuals. Surprisingly, groups composed by familiar individuals were less responsive than groups of unfamiliar individuals. It is plausible that familiarity equips individuals with better skills to accurately assess the threat avoiding false alarms. Reactive distance and magnitude of response were more dependent on individual size than on familiarity. Larger individuals reached higher maximum speeds and total distances in their escape response. Our approach allowed us to tease apart which aspects of an escape response are more likely to be influenced by early social conditions.

scholarly journals The effects of familiarity on escape responses in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley L Wolcott ◽  
Miguel Barbosa ◽  
Alfredo F Ojanguren
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Escape Response ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Early Life Stages ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Reactive Distance ◽  
Trinidadian Guppy ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
Predator Evasion

Predation is the main driver of mortality during early life stages. The ability to avoid and evade potential threats is, therefore, favoured to evolve during the early stages of life. It is also during these early stages that the process of familiarization occurs. It has long been recognized that associating with familiar individuals confers anti predator benefits. Less, however, is known about how predator evasion is affected by social experience during early stages. In this study we test the hypothesis that familiarization acquired during early life stages improves anti predator escape responses. Using the Trinidadian guppy we examine the effect of different early social conditions in the three main components of predator evasion. Using high-speed motion analysis we compared the responsiveness, reactive distance and magnitude of the response (maximum speed, maximum acceleration and distance) of the response to a visual stimulus in groups composed either of familiar or non-familiar individuals. Surprisingly, groups composed by familiar individuals were less responsive than groups of unfamiliar individuals. It is plausible that familiarity equips individuals with better skills to accurately assess the threat avoiding false alarms. Reactive distance and magnitude of response were more dependent on individual size than on familiarity. Larger individuals reached higher maximum speeds and total distances in their escape response. Our approach allowed us to tease apart which aspects of an escape response are more likely to be influenced by early social conditions.

A visually elicited escape response in the fly that does not use the giant fiber pathway

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1149-1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mats H. Holmqvist
Keyword(s):  
Escape Response ◽  
Compound Eye ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Giant Fiber ◽  
Single Spike ◽  
Freely Behaving ◽  
Freely Moving ◽  
Escape Responses ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Stimulation Of

AbstractA housefly elicits an escape in response to an approaching target (Holmqvist & Srinivasan, 1991). This study tests if the giant fiber pathway, which mediates a light-off escape response in a fruitfly (Wyman et al., 1985), also mediates escape to an approaching target in a housefly. Visual stimuli simulating an approaching or receding dark disk were presented to houseflies, Musca domestica, in both behavioral and physiological experiments. Freely behaving flies escaped in response to an expanding dark disk but not to a contracting dark disk. In restrained flies, the giant fiber, here called the giant descending neuron (GDN), was recorded from intracellularly and the tergotrochanteral muscle (TTM), which provides the main thrust in an escape jump, was recorded from extracellularly. During electrical stimulation of the brain, by means of stimulating electrodes inserted into the ventral part of each compound eye, a single spike in the GDN drives the TTM. However, when the TTM responds to visual stimulation that elicits an escape response in a behaving fly, the GDN shows no activity. Similarly to the behavioral results, the TTM of restrained flies showed muscle potentials in response to an expanding dark disk, but not to a contracting disk. However, freely moving flies elicit escapes more than 100 ms on average before the first TTM spike, suggesting that this type of escape does not start with a jump powered by the TTM. In conclusion, this visually evoked escape response in the housefly is not likely to be mediated by the giant fiber pathway. The findings suggest that there exist at least two pathways mediating visually evoked escape responses in flies.

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