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Conditioned leg movement in the cat with massed trials, trace conditioning, and weak US intensity

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Abstract

Six male cats served as subjects in a classical conditioning experiment designed to assess the development of an overt conditioned response with experimental parameters that had been demonstrated to produce conditioning of neuro-electrical activity in immobilized cats. The subjects were physically restrained by means of an adjustable full-body cast during the experimental sessions which consisted of 75 habituation trials (light flash alone) followed by 225 trials with light and shock paired in a trace conditioning manner, and 75 additional extinction trials (light alone).

The subjects were divided into two groups, and three different experimental sessions were given to each on three consecutive days. Group I received low US intensity (18 v) conditioning on the first day, high US (45–85 v) conditioning on Day 2 and pseudoconditioning on Day 3. Group II received the same sessions, but in a pseudoconditioning —high US—low US order. The results indicated that a conditioned leg movement was produced when the CS was paired in a trace conditioning fashion with either the high or low intensity shock US. The development of the conditioned leg movement across trials was found to be very similar to that of the conditioned neural activity in a previous study using comparable stimuli and procedures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Psychology, University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, Oregon

    James H. O’Brien & Steven C. Packham

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  1. James H. O’Brien
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  2. Steven C. Packham
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Additional information

This investigation was supported in part by USPHS research grant MH15350.

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O’Brien, J.H., Packham, S.C. Conditioned leg movement in the cat with massed trials, trace conditioning, and weak US intensity. Conditional Reflex 8, 116–124 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03000312

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