Toward a theory of restraint

Consumption largely remains a black box in the population, environment, and global change debates. The dominant perspective takes insatiability as axiomatic and assumes that reduced consumption will only happen through scarcity or the impositions of external authority. Yet humans often exhibit resource limiting behavior that is not the result of external controls nor is it altruistic or aberrant. This article develops the concept of restraint as an evolutionarily and culturally significant behavior, yet one that in modern times has been relegated to a regressive, if not trivial, status. The article defines restraint, hypothesizes its historical and evolutionary roots, lays out the conditions under which it can occur, and develops a theoretical parallel to cooperation in international relations theory.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43491/1/11111_2005_Article_BF02208422.pd

EFFECT OF CONTROLLABLE AND UNCONTROLLABLE NEONATAL PRE-SHOCKS ON ADULT ESCAPE-AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR IN THE GUINEA-PIG (CAVIA-PORCELLUS)

Neonatal guinea pigs were given escapable, inescapable, or no shock and were later tested as adults on a signaled escape/avoidance task. During the neonatal period, the animals that could escape shock learned to do so quickly and steadily increased their overall level of activity, while those that could not, displayed a consistent decline in activity. Furthermore, during adult escape/avoidance sessions, guinea pigs, that could control neonatal shock were superior to those that lacked such control. These findings extend the generality of the interference effect to the guinea pig and highlight the influence of early control of aversive events on th.is phenomenon