The retroactive effect of electroshock on learning.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
9 groups of rats, while being trained to avoid a charged grid, were given electroshocks at differing intervals of time after each trial. A control group received the same training without the electroshock. "There was a very marked depression of learning in the group which received the convulsive shock 20 sec. after each trial. The depression became progressively less in the 40 sec., 1 min., 4 min., and 15 min. groups. Animals with longer trial-shock intervals (1 hr., 4 hr., and 14 hr.) did not differ significantly from the controls." As an additional control to check the possibility that the results were due to a punishment-avoidance situation complicating the original learning task and not to a cerebral effect of the shock, 4 groups of animals received the same shock, but through the legs, and were run 20 sec., 40 sec., 4 min., or 45 min. after each learning trial. Of these groups only the 20 sec. group was significantly different than the control group. Theoretical interpretation of the results is offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: