Relationship of negative contrast to animal models of fear and anxiety

The relatedness of behavior elicited by reward reduction (successive negati ve contrast procedure) and behaviors produced by three animal models of anx iety (open-field emergence, elevated plus-maze, and context-shock fear cond itioning) was examined by correlational and factor analytic procedures. Fac tor analysis (oblique rotation) indicated substantial independence among th e tests: Trials 1 and 2 of the plus-maze loaded on two different factors un accompanied by any other test; open-field emergence and context-shock fear loaded on the same factor; and negative contrast loaded on a fourth factor. However, negative contrast proved to be a dynamic process, with factor loa dings changing across a 4-day postshift period-moving from an independent l oading on the Ist postshift day to being clustered with context-shock fear and open-field emergence on the 2nd and 3rd postshift days to being cluster ed with just context-shock fear on the last postshift. day. These latter da ta support a multistage theory of successive negative contrast.