Effects of stimulus associated with amobarbital administration on avoidance behavior

Abstract

The present study was concerned with the effect on avoidance responding of superimposing a stimulus which has previously been associated with amobarbital administration. Rats were given unsignaled shuttlebox avoidance training, then given separate Pavlovian conditioning (CS-amobarbital pairings) with i1voidance training continuing on alternate days. The Pavlovian CS was then presented during two test sessions to determine its effect on the avoidance response. It was found that the PavloVian CS through its association with amobarbital suppressed avoidance response rate when presented during nonsignaled avoidance behavior.