From the test situations which were used to reveal fears, it was found that Peter showed even more marked fear responses to the rabbit than to the rat.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Peter's fear of the animals which were shown him was probably not a directly conditioned fear.
Peter was 2 years and 10 months old when we began to study him. He was afraid of a white rat, and this fear extended to a rabbit, a fur coat, a feather, cotton wool, etc., but not to wooden blocks and similar toys.
From reading over the notes for each session it was apparent that there had been improvement by more or less regular steps from almost complete terror at sight of the rabbit to a completely positive response with no signs of disturbance.
I'm deathly afraid of rats.
New situations requiring closer contact with the rabbit had been gradually introduced and the degree to which these situations were avoided, tolerated, or welcomed, at each experimental session, gave the measure of improvement.
What tipped the scales was that psychology involved working with rats.
Peter Rabbit's not a rabbit. Peter Rabbit is a proxy for the child who reads the book, and they imagine themselves in the rabbit's position.
In order to produce learned fear, you take a neutral stimulus like a tone, and you pair it with an electrical shock. Tone, shock. Tone, shock. So the animal learns that the tone is bad news. But you can also do the opposite - shock it at other times, but never when the tone comes on.
Rodents can come across as being quite vacant in the personality stakes.
I had mice that I kept as pets when I was very young, and I've always liked the way they look. Even rats. I'm not scared of them.
No opposing quotes found.