EFFECTS OF APPETITIVE DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULI ON AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR

Rats were 1st trained on free operant avoidance until a stable response rate was established and then given appetitive discrimination training. A tone stimulus was presented independently of 40 male Long-Evans rats' behavior, which for 1 group, S+, signaled food and for another group, S-, no food. Controls were run for which the tone had no food-predicting value. When the tone was then introduced as a probe in the avoidance situation, it depressed the avoidance response in the S+ group and facilitated it in the S- group. The performance of controls argues against a competing-response interpretation of the transfer effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.