Summary
Two strains of rats, Tyron maze brights and Tryon maze dulls, were run on a visual successive discrimination problem under three conditions: injected intraperitoneally with 1.0 mg/kg strychnine sulphate (E); injected with physiological saline (C); non-injected (N). For both strains the E group learned the problem significantly faster than did the C and N groups, which did not differ from one another. An evaluation was made of the extent and nature of side-effects and it was concluded that the enhanced learning of the strychnine animals could not be explained on the basis of such side-effects. A serious question was resolved, also, concerning the proper control group to use in a study of this type which is seeking to discover the mechanism of a drug's action in relation to complex behavioral processes.
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From a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph. D. degree, University of California, Berkeley. The author is indebted to Professors D. A. Riley and M. R. Rosenzweig for their guidance and counsel.
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Petrinovich, L. Facilitation of successive discrimination learning by strychnine sulphate. Psychopharmacologia 4, 103–113 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413328
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00413328