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THRESHOLD FOR CONDITIONED SUPPRESSION USING X‐RAYS AS THE PRE‐AVERSIVE STIMULUS 1
Author(s) -
Morris Dale Duane
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
journal of the experimental analysis of behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1938-3711
pISSN - 0022-5002
DOI - 10.1901/jeab.1966.9-29
Subject(s) - reinforcement , conditioning , aversive stimulus , stimulus (psychology) , stimulus control , classical conditioning , audiology , psychology , unconditioned stimulus , operant conditioning , anesthesia , medicine , zoology , developmental psychology , neuroscience , social psychology , biology , mathematics , psychotherapist , statistics , nicotine
Four male, 12‐week‐old Sprague‐Dawley rats were used to determine the threshold for behavioral response to X‐irradiation using the conditioned suppression technique. They were maintained at 80 per cent body weight and initially trained to stable performance on a VI 1 min schedule with 16 per cent sucrose solution as reinforcement. After a stable baseline was obtained, animals were placed in the instrumental conditioning box beneath the X‐ray machine for a half‐hour session each day. While subjects were actively pressing the lever for reinforcement, 15‐sec X‐ray exposures of 0.5 R/sec were administered, followed immediately by electric shock. After all animals had exhibited conditioned suppression, the dose‐rate was decreased in subsequent sessions in an effort to establish threshold. The results indicate that X‐rays at a dose‐rate as low as 0.004 R/sec can be an effective pre‐aversive stimulus for the rat.