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Age‐related differences in avoidance behavior in rats following CS preexposure
Author(s) -
Wilson Linda M.,
Phinney Richard L.,
Brennan James F.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420070506
Subject(s) - weanling , extinction (optical mineralogy) , avoidance learning , psychology , avoidance response , latent inhibition , developmental psychology , conditioning , classical conditioning , physiology , audiology , endocrinology , neuroscience , biology , medicine , mathematics , paleontology , statistics
Weanling and adult rats were exposed to either 0 or 10 conditioned stimulus (CS) presentations prior to 1‐way active‐avoidance (AA) training. Although CS exposure retarded avoidance acquisition in the adults, it produced no effect in the pups during avoidance learning. Neither adult nor young rats demonstrated preexposure effects in extinction. A general extinction analysis showed that pups had less resistance to extinction than the adults, despite a comparable avoidance learning criterion between age groups. The lack of preexposure influences on performance by the pups was compared to previous findings of response inhibitory deficits in immature rats. The results were considered in light of selective attention interpretations of latent inhibition.