Avoidance is behaviour that prevents or postpones the occurrence of an aversive stimulus; whereas, escape is behaviour that terminates an aversive stimulus. There are two types of avoidance, both of which prevent an aversive stimulus from occurring. Standard avoidance involves a warning stimulus that predicts an aversive stimulus, reinforced by the termination of the warning stimulus. Alternatively, Sidman or free-operant avoidance does not include a warning stimulus and it is unknown what the exact reinforcing properties are that maintain it. Previous research has found that Betta splendens (Siamese fighting fish) may not engage in Sidman avoidance whereas other fish species including Carassius auratus (goldfish) do. The present study looked at whether Betta splendens could be taught Sidman avoidance when water disturbance is the aversive stimulus, by prompting the fish to emit the avoidance response of crossing over between the two sides of an experimental tank in 30second intervals, and reinforcing the behaviour with a mirror. Results showed an increase in the frequency of independent (i.e., unprompted) crossovers between the sides of the experimental tank resulting in avoidance of water disturbance, an aversive stimulus for these fish. The increase in responding was maintained for one of the three subjects when reinforcement was removed, suggesting that this species can learn Sidman avoidance. / May 2016

The present research explored the role of RES manipulation on ongoing Sidman avoidance behavior. Results of the first phase revealed that both experimental drugs significantly altered RES levels in predicted directions after the first measure; however, only stimulated subjects maintained significant differences after 5 days. No activity-level differences were noted in any subjects due to drugs across time. Sidman avoidance data indicated that RES-stimulated subjects showed significant deterioration in avoidance performance as compared to other groups for the first session. Stimulated subjects were also poorer on the second and third sessions, but statistical significance was not obtained because some saline subjects also showed poorer performance. A rank order correlation revealed that a significant negative correlation existed between RES stimulation and avoidance performance, based on changes in RES levels from baseline to the end of the shock program. These data suggest that increased stress resistance due to RES stimulation may reduce the aversive properties of the shock program, thus decreasing motivation for responding. It was concluded that artificial methods of inducing stress resistance by RES stimulation may be a useful therapeutic technique for patients experiencing psychological stress.