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Updated: Aug 1, 2026

A Procedure for Studying the Footshock-Induced Reinstatement of Cocaine Seeking in Laboratory Rats
Published on: January 6, 2011
Early-session increases in responding during extinction
1Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones en Comportamiento, Universidad de Guadalajara, 12 de Diciembre 204, Col. Chapalita, CP 45030-Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Abstract:
After training under a variable-interval 60-s schedule of reinforcement, four rats were exposed to 30-min extinction tests, which occurred either at the start or at the end of the session (each session being 50-min long). Response rate in extinction decreased when the extinction test occurred at the end of the session, but first increased and then decreased when the extinction test occurred at the start of the session. Consistent with other recent results, this finding suggests that some variable, other than reinforcement, contributes to early-session increases in responding.
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