Effects of Prior and Interpolated Shock Exposures on Subsequent Avoidance Learning by Goldfish

Abstract

7 groups ( N = 10) of goldfish, Carassius auratus, were treated with either prior or interpolated unsignaled-inescapable shocks or escape training (i.e., CS-omission) to assess the effects on subsequent avoidance performance. Both prior and interpolated inescapable shock exposures interfered with avoidance performance. Only the prior CS-omission training condition resulted in a similar effect. The relevance of these results to an interpretation of learned helplessness is discussed.