Pavlovian counterconditioning: changing the suppressive properties of shock by association with food

Two experiments are described in which rats received a series of shock and food presentations in a Pavlovian counterconditioning sequence. Subsequently, the capacity of the shock to act as a reinforcer during conditioned emotional response (CER) training was assessed. In the first experiment, following each shock during counterconditioning by a food presentation was found to retard the development of suppression during CER training relative to control conditions in which different groups of rats received either a sequence of explicitly unpaired shock and food presentations, shock presentations alone, or food presentations alone. The second experiment demonstrated that when the magnitude of the food presentations is held constant, the attenuation of the suppressive properties of shock by pairing with food depends on the magnitude of the shock. The results are interpreted as demonstrations of Pavlovian counterconditioning, which, it is suggested, modifies the general aversiveness of a noxious stimulus.