Instrumental conditioning of the heart rate in the curarized rat.

Trowill, Jay A.

doi:10.1037/h0024162

Cited by 74 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…That lick rates higher than those that normally occur in baseline conditions could not be conditioned is not at all disturbing since this finding is similar to the results found by investigators who have performed successful operant conditioning of heart rates (Trowill , 1967: DiCara & Miller, 1969Engel & Gottlieb, 1970). In all these investigations of heart-rate conditioning only small normally occurring (i.e., 10% or 20%) variations in baseline heart rates were conditioned.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Such an investigation would be related, theoretically and procedurally, to other attempts to operantly condition autonomic and reflexive behaviors. Trowill (1967) provided evidence that the heart rate of an artificially respirated rat can be increased or decreased by a factor of 5% if rates faster or slower than the typical normal (i.e., average) heart rate are rewarded. Miller & DiCara (1967) instrumentally conditioned heart rate changes of 20%.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Differential reinforcement of specific lick rates in the rat

Pierson

Schaeffer

1973

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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Lick rates in rats were differentially reinforced , using an operant conditioning procedure in which specific lick rates, when maintained for specific temporal durations were reinforced with the opportunity to run in aã ctivity wheel. This operant conditioning paradigm is referred. to as differential reinforcement of high rates of responding (DRH). Between and within Ss lick rate variability did not exceed one lick for ' all DRH conditions tested in which the time base was 1 sec or le~. Specific momentary lick rates were successfully rem forced for all Ss tested, but DRH conditioning did not p.roduce higher momentary lick rates than the range of lick-rate values normally observed in baseline conditions.All evidence presently available suggests that the licking response in rats occurs at a relatively constant momentary rate. Stellar & Hill (1952), the earliest investigators to explore rate of licking in the rat, found that (a) rats drink at a relatively constant rate or not at all, (b) the average rate of licking is 6-7 laps/sec, and (c) this rate is independent of fluid deprivation levels.Davis & Keehn (1959) further substantiated the co~stancy of the lick rate in the rat by presenting evidence that the average lick rate was constant for saline, sucrose, and saccharin solutions. In 1960, Davis and Arnold concluded that slight intersession and individual differences in lick rate, of the order of about 1 lick/sec , did exist . . Further evidence that lick rates in the rat are largely independent of environmental influence was presented by Schaeffer & Premack (1961). They found that neonatal .rats , raised without an opportunity to drink, upon then first contact with fluids displayed a mean lick rate identical to that of adults. Unlike previous investigators, Schaeffer and Premack showed that careful analysis of momentary lick rate within bursts of over 1 sec duration yielded initial actual rates of licking for some animals as high as 9 .0 licks/sec and actual terminal rates within the same burst as low as 5.2 licks/sec . which averaged to a mean lick rate for the entire lick burst of 6.6 licks/sec. As have other investigators , however , they found that both the mean and modal lick rates for rats were 6·7 licks/sec. Smith (1966). These studies, in addition to revealing that the lick response fatigued , could be classically conditioned , and , once init iated, was reflexive, all reported that lick rate was essentially constant. Furthermore, the reflexive properties of momentary lick rate were not affected by radiation doses 10 times the strength needed to produce aversion to normally preferred saccharin solutions (Schaeffer & Smith, 1966).Recently, Corbit & Luschei (1969) used a computer to measure interlick intervals in milliseconds and found that neither different deprivation schedules, preferred taste stimulation, nor aversive taste stimulation affected the interlick interval. The mean rate of licking , as measured by this highly precise method , equalled 6.5 licks/sec, which compares favorably with the rates f...

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

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confidence: 99%

Differential reinforcement of specific lick rates in the rat

Pierson

Schaeffer

1973

Bull. Psychon. Soc.

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“…Miller & DiCara, 1967Trowill, 1967). In each of these experiments, the mediation of the autonomic responses by respiratory changes or overt skeletal responses was ruled out by training rats paralyzed by curare and maintained on artificial respiration.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effect of heart-rate learning under curare on subsequent noncurarized avoidance learning.

DiCara¹,

Weiss²

1969

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology

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Rats which learned to decrease heart rate under curare in order to avoid electric shock showed good subsequent learning of a free-moving skeletalavoidance response in a modified shuttle device, while subjects which learned to increase heart rate under curare showed poor subsequent avoidance and escape learning. Similar poor avoidance was shown by naive subjects trained with strong electric shock. These results suggest that instrumental learning of heart rate may alter emotional responses. An alternative explanation for poor avoidance performance based on learned "helplessness" is ruled out.

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“…It has also been described in birds by Macphail (1966Macphail ( , 1967 who, however, reported difficulty in "establishing a satisfactory operant level of any response that can be used to operate a microswitch." Intracranial stimulation has been used in studies not primarily concerned with the self-stimulation phenomenon as a practical and convenient means of reward, e.g., Trowill (1967) and Miller & DiCara (1967). The ubiquity of pigeons in operant research suggests that preparations in which a key-peck response can be established and maintained, using only electrical brain stimulation as reward, may have wide application, especially where traditional rewards might interfere with stimulus control or a relevant dependent variable such as interresponse time.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Intracranial self-stimulation in the pigeon: The effects of current intensity

Webster

1970

Psychon Sci

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Instrumental conditioning of the heart rate in the curarized rat.

Cited by 74 publications

References 12 publications

Differential reinforcement of specific lick rates in the rat

Differential reinforcement of specific lick rates in the rat

Effect of heart-rate learning under curare on subsequent noncurarized avoidance learning.

Intracranial self-stimulation in the pigeon: The effects of current intensity

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