AMNESIA AS A FUNCTION OF EVENTS DURING LEARNING-ECS INTERVAL

A single ECS, following 1-trial passive avoidance conditioning, has previously been shown to induce retrograde amnesia. In the present study 64 naive albino rats were given ECS delayed sufficiently to produce only partial amnesia. However, when the learning-ECS interval was filled with a flashing light, a more complete amnesia resulted. As the light alone had no disruptive effect upon subsequent performance of the conditioned emotional response, it is concluded that the light stimulus and resulting orienting response mediated between learning and ECS increasing the consequent amnesia. The results add to a growing body of evidence that the time between ECS and learning is not, in itself, a primary determinant of the amnesic effects of ECS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.