TRANSFER OF INSTRUMENTALLY LEARNED HEART-RATE CHANGES FROM CURARIZED TO NONCURARIZED STATE - IMPLICATIONS FOR A MEDIATIONAL HYPOTHESIS

2 groups each consisting of 8 Sprague-Dawley curarized rats learned to increase or decrease, respectively, their heart rates to escape and/or avoid mild electric shock. 2 wk. later, a statistically significant increase of 5% and decrease of 16% transferred to the noncurarized state. Immediately subsequent retraining without curare produced additional significant increases and decreases, bringing the overall changes to 11 and 22%, respectively. Initial significant differences between the 2 groups in respiration and activity decreased until they were far from statistically reliable. It is difficult to account for the pattern of these results by the hypothesis that all of the of the heart-rate changes in these rats were mediated by learned changes in central commands for activity or breathing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.