This study arose from the suspicion that decreased intellectual capacity can result from the administration of certain drugs during labor and parturition.In a recent paper Mengert states, "The principal cause of anoxia during and immediately following labor is the analgesic and anesthetic drug administered to produce relief of pain during labor" (7, p. 663). Cole, Kimball, and Daniels have (1) found that sedatives and anesthetics increase the incidence of asphyxia in the newborn, and the incidence is proportional to the amounts administered. Schreiber (8, 9) has shown that fetal anoxia can result in areas of necrosis frequently leading to so-called "devastation areas" that may mentally handicap the child throughout life.Even though there can be no direct inference from animal to human being, it is of interest to determine whether or not any deleterious effect can be produced by analgesics given just prior to parturition in animals. In this study an attempt has been made to approximate human conditions in so far as the time and duration of the drug administration was concerned. However, even though a varying dosage was given, the objective was to induce behavioral differences if possible. The amounts of drug, as a consequence, were often extremely high and in one instance exceeded the minimum lethal dose.
EXPERIMENT I
MethodThe apparatus used is extensively described in an article by Hanawalt (3). It consisted of two types of mazes and a reasoning problem adapted by Shepard (10) from the apparatus developed by Maier (5).The reasoning problem was constructed of the same materials and in the same manner as the mazes. Three main alleys radiated from a central starting point and led to three separate food boxes. In each of the paths there was a gate. Blocks could be placed in any of the pathways, closing them off at the starting point. In order to fulfill the criteria of reasoning (6), small groups of animals were allowed five J-hr. exploratory periods daily. During this time all paths were open from beginning to end and food was not introduced into the situation. At the conclusion of the fifth period, the initial stage of the testing began. Path 1 was closed and food was placed at B3. The gate in front of the food box was lowered and the rat dropped into the alley in front of it. After a bite of food the animal was taken out. This procedure was repeated three times in all. The gate was then raised and the animal placed at A. When the food had been reached, the rat was returned to the starting point. A trial consisted of two such runs, both of which had to be correctly performed to constitute a perfect trial. An error consisted of progress past the gate in a false pathway. One trial a
NE of the most severe forms of psychopathology is seen in cases culminating in a "vegetative" level of adjustment characterized by the patients being extremely withdrawn, anergic, and uncommunicative. Standard treatment procedures do not produce any appreciable benefits. It would seem that different, if not novel, therapeutic approaches need to be explored if changes are to be effected with this type of patient. This paper presents an evaluation of a therapeutic method that was devised for chronic schizophrenics with such extreme withdrawal symptoms.Given the label "operant-interpersonal," the method of therapy that is proposed stems from recent work employing learning techniques with schizophrenics. Peters and Jenkins (1954) attempted to retrain chronic schizophrenics by using first simple psychomotor tasks and then increasing their complexity. To increase motivation, subcoma injections of insulin were given with fudge as a reward. Tilton (1956), employing instrumental motor and verbal techniques with even more debilitated patients, found that candy was an adequate reward in
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