EditorialConsiderations for shock and ‘training’ collars: Concerns from and for the working dog community
Section snippets
Roles for immobility and obedience
We have known for decades that shock works to teach avoidance and cessation of behavior, which in the extreme form often examined in the psychologic literature, is referred to as “immobility.” It is this criteria of ‘immobility’ by which learned helplessness is accessed (Seligman, 1971). No one who is recommending shock for treatment of behavioral problems has evaluated scientifically the extent to which they may be inducing learned helplessness. In none of the website sources supporting the
Effect of shock on molecular and cellular ‘learning’
If shock and pain are profound, it is possible to induce almost immediate long-term potentiation (LTP), the molecular changes associated with hippocampal memory that will lead to a strong aversion or phobia. The hippocampus is the primary region where fears and anxieties associated with fearful stimuli are thought to originate, so a logical sequela to a stressful, painful stimulus may be fear, phobia, or withdrawal. At the cellular level any kind of repeated reinforcement ensures better, more
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