Procedimiento efectivo de «contingencia cero» para la extincion de la evitacion

The effectiveness of an avoidance behavior's extinction procedure, named «zero contingency», was proved experimentally. This procedure was designed to generate directly in subjects an expectation of independence between the cue and the aversive stimulus, according to Seligman and Johnston (1973) cognitive theory of avoidance. Using a within subject design, with 4 groups of 4 rats each one, «zero contingency» was compared with two different extinction procedures (ordinary and response prevention) and a control condition (acquisition). Results in the test (avoidance response to the cue alone) showed a remarkable difference between the control group and the experimental groups joint. On the other hand, extinction procedures showed the next order of effectiveness from bigger to lesser: response prevention, «zero contingency», and ordinary.