EFFECTS OF POSTTRAINING ELECTROCONVULSIVE SHOCK ON RETENTION-TEST PERFORMANCE INVOLVING CHOICE

Tested disruptive effects of posttraining ECS using a retention test involving choice between 2 goal boxes in a T maze. Ss were adult male Wistar rats. An ECS given at posttraining intervals up to 20 sec. disrupted retention-test performance; ECS given at intervals greater than 20 sec. was not disruptive. The disruption demonstrated with this choice test was due to interference with consolidation and not to fear or weakening of conditioned emotional responses. After repeated training-ECS treatments, ECS failed to disrupt performance. Results suggest that partial consolidations accumulate with repeated treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.