Abstract
12 male albino rats were injected with amphetamine, 5 mg/kg, every 4th to 5th day, 30 times/rat in all, and their behaviour recorded 10–31 min after injection. During the observation period 4 rats, the stereotypy-group, were electro-stimulated when they did not demonstrate stereotypy, which is a well-defined, constantly and spontaneously occurring amphetamine-induced behaviour. 4 rats non-stereotypy-group, were stimulated when demonstrating stereotypy. 4 rats acted as control group and were not stimulated.
Whereas there was no difference between the groups during the first experiments, their behaviour differed in a statistically significant was during the experiments with stimulation, and the differences remained during control experiments without stimulation. The groups differed in the following way: the stereotypy-group demonstrated a high percentage of stereotypy per experiment, the non-stereotypy-group a low percentage, while the results of the control group lay between those of the stimulated groups.
It is concluded that stereotypy can be subjected to conditioning.
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Borberg, S. Conditioning of amphetamine-induced behaviour in the albino rat. Psychopharmacologia 34, 191–198 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421960
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421960