Term of Award
Summer 2013
Degree Name
Master of Science in Experimental Psychology (M.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Psychology
Committee Chair
Kent Bodily
Committee Member 1
Bradley Sturz
Committee Member 2
Janice Steirn
Abstract
Exposure to an inescapable aversive stimulus decreases escape responses to subsequent escapable aversive stimuli. This is known as the learned helplessness effect. In the present experiment, human participants were trained in an immersive, 3D virtual environment analog of an operant chamber using an inescapable aversive stimulus, an escapable aversive stimulus, or no aversive stimulus. Then, all participants were tested using an immersive, 3D virtual environment analog of a shuttle box using an escapable aversive stimulus. Participants trained with an inescapable aversive stimulus were slower to escape during testing than participants trained with an escapable aversive stimulus. The current results demonstrate that the learned helplessness effect can be established in humans using 3D virtual environments and a mild aversive stimulus.
Recommended Citation
Kilday, Zachary, "Inescapable Aversive Stimulus Decreases Subsequent Escape Responding in Humans: An Investigation of the Learned Helplessness Effect in a 3D Virtual Environment" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 834.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/834
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
