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Published on: August 24, 2012
Converging evidence for one-trial context fear conditioning with an immediate shock: importance of shock potency
R A Bevins1, J E McPhee, A S Rauhut
1Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 68588-0308, USA. rbevins@unlinfo.unl.edu or to joeayres@psych.umass.edu
Abstract:
In a sample of 208 Holtzman-descended albino rats, we found evidence with 4 measures of conditioning (freezing, defecation, side crossing, and nose crossing) that a single 2-s, 1.0-mA immediate shock could condition fear to a context (Experiments 1, 2, and 4). When we reduced the shock intensity to 0.5 mA, we obtained a complete immediate-shock conditioning deficit according to all measures in Experiment 3 and to all but the defecation measure in Experiment 4. Results suggest two conclusions: (a) Differences in shock potency between laboratories may help explain discrepant findings about whether immediate shock supports contextual conditioning; (b) theories of contextual conditioning need a mechanism that permits that conditioning to result from immediate shock.
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