Abstract
Two groups of rats were trained to press a lever when the cue was bright (S Dand not to press when the cue was dim (S Δ). During a subsequent testing phase, the discrimination between S Dand S Δ was made more difficult; and the experimental group was injected with Chlordiazepoxide (CDP 15 mg/kg) while the control group received tap water (1 cc/kg).
The CDP treated Ss made significantly more lever presses, spent less time on an escape platform, and discriminated better at the end of testing than the controls. These results were attributed to the reduction by Chlordiazepoxide of the degree of suppression of lever pressing normally caused by response produced electric shock.
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This investigation was supported in part by Morrison Foundation Grant MTRA-3.
The authors would like to express their appreciation to Dr. Irv Geller for his insightful review of this paper.
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Bremner, F.J., Cobb, H.W. & Hahn, W.C. The effect of chlordiazepoxide on the behavior of rats in a conflict situation. Psychopharmacologia 17, 275–282 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00402086
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00402086