Hippocampal function in avoidance learning and punishment.

Discriminative avoidance learning in hippocampal and cortical rats: Acquisition rate, behavioral strategies, and long-term retention

“…During retention testing, this difference in amount of shock received at each trial persisted. Black et al (1977) have noted that in other escape-avoidance situations, hippocampal rats have diffi~ulty in escaping to a place in the absence of salient cues marking that place. In the early stages of escape learning in our experimental setup, the animals had to acquire a memory for the spatial relation between shock and goal and learn that the shock is escaped not just by running, but by running to a place (the goalbox).…”

“…Thus, it has been suggested that HL rats learn to shuttle faster because they are not impaired by the initial freezing (behavioral inhibition) that is the response to footshock in the early stages of training in the normal rat (Green, Beatty, & Schwartzbaum, 1967). On the other hand, those who attribute a spatial elaboration role to the hippocampus suggest that HL rats can learn to shuttle faster than normal rats because they do not associate the shock with a specific place and therefore do not have to overcome the initial fear of shuttling to a place where shock has been received (Black, Nadel, & O'Keefe, 1977).…”

Septal lesion effects on a two-way avoidance task with one-way avoidance task characteristics: A test of a fear-attenuation hypothesis

“…Ablation of the septal region, therefore, may result in the behavioral consequences that are symptomatic of a dysfunction not only of septum, but also of hippocampus. In a recent review of the hippocampus literature, Black, Nadel, and O'Keefe (1977) have concluded that the animal with hippocampal lesions cannot employ information about places. In a two-way avoidance learning situation, for example, these animals cannot employ the place (spatial) cues in order to locate and enter the correct compartment on a trial but, rather, must rely on the apparatus cues.…”

The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map

“…The predominance of flight reactions in threatening situations is a function of the rapid learning about * Testa (1974) has discussed the importance of locations in avoidance learning, but in a way we find both incomprehensible and empty of theoretical significance. * * We have attempted a limited redefinition of the avoidance and punishment literature, particularly as it applies to studies of animals with hippocampal damage, in a recent paper (Black et al 1977). Our discussion there focuses on the same data in a somewhat different way than in the present chapter.…”

“…This task has been called shock-shock passive avoidance. There are other variants that one could mention here; the reader is referred to Black et al (1977) for further discussion of these and for a more detailed analysis of the performance of hippocampal animals in these situations.…”