Strain Differences in Continued Avoidance after a Short or Long Retention Interval

Abstract

3 experiments examined the effects of CS-only trials and retention interval upon resistance to extinction of an avoidance response. In Exps. I and II, nonemotional Holtzman rats showed high resistance to extinction regardless of experimental conditions. In Exp. III, emotional Sasco rats showed high resistance to extinction for a short delay while forgetting was almost complete for the longer retention interval. The results were discussed in terms of implications for elicitation theory.