Amphetamine does not affect the partial punishment effect (PPE)

Abstract

The effects of amphetamine on the partial punishment effect (PPE) at one trial per day, were examined. Two groups of animals were trained to run in a straight alley. The continuously reinforced (CRF) group received food reward on every trial. The partially punished (PP) group received food reward on every trial but in addition, received footshocks of a gradually increasing intensity in the goal box on a random 50% of the trials. In the test stage, all animals received both food and footshock on each trial. dl-Amphetamine 1.5 mg/kg was administered in a 2 X 2 design, i.e. drug-no drug in training and drug-no drug in test. The partially punished animals exhibited increased persitence in running to the goal box during test, and this "partial punishment effect" was unaffected by amphetamine.