CLASSICAL CONDITIONING PSEUDOCONDITIONING AND SENSITIZATION IN NORMAL AND FOREBRAINLESS GOLDFISH

36 forebrain-ablated and sham-operated goldfish received 10 classical conditioning trials a day for 10 days. Ss showed acquisition when compared to pseudoconditioning and sensitization controls. However, there were no differences between the classical conditioning of forebrainless and sham-operated Ss, suggesting that the failure of forebrainless Ss to learn an active instrumental avoidance response is not due to impairment of associative functions. Furthermore, lack of response magnitude differences between forebrainless and sham-operated Ss within the classical-conditioning, pseudoconditioning, and sensitization procedures suggests that these Ss did not differ in arousal even following exposure to shock. However, Ss subjected to neither shocks nor forebrain ablation showed more spontaneous activity than Ss subjected to either or both. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.