Abstract
Changes in respiration amplitude, respiration rate, and heart rate in response to a conditioned signal for shock were measured concurrently in kittens and adult cats. The data were analyzed with respect to qualitative and quantitative variability across trials and subjects; correlation among measures; skewness; and kurtosis. Suppression of respiration amplitude was the most reliable response across trials and subjects, with increases in respiration rate second and heart rate by far the least reliable. Correlations between each pair of measures were moderate. Respiration-amplitude responses were negatively skewed, but this deviation from normality was moderate and consistent across subjects. The measurement of conditioned respiratory suppression is a viable addition or alternative to the conditioned emotional response procedure in studies of classically conditioned fear.
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Most of the computer programs used in this study were written by W. J. Wilson.
This study was supported by Research Training in Mental Retardation Grant HD 07032 from NICHD and by a Biomedical Research Support Grant, UCLA, awarded to N. Dess, and by a UCLA Senate grant awarded to S. Soltysik.
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Soltysik, S.S., Dess, N.K., Wilson, W.J. et al. Procedure and reliability of conditioned respiratory suppression. Animal Learning & Behavior 16, 177–184 (1988). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209062
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209062