Effect of Alcohol on the Acquisition and Resistance-To-Extinction of Avoidance Responses in Rats

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to explore the effects of alcohol on avoidance behavior in rats. In Exp. I, the effect of alcohol on the acquisition of an avoidance response was examined in a 2 × 4 factorial design. Groups of rats were trained to avoid in one of two simple avoidance tasks following the administration of one of four doses of alcohol. Alcohol significantly affected the latency of the first escape trial but did not significantly influence any of the measures of avoidance learning. In Exp. II, a 2 × 3 factorial design was employed to study the effect of alcohol on the resistance-to-extinction of a previously learned avoidance response. Rats were trained to avoid in one of the two tasks and then were given one of three doses of alcohol prior to extinction. Alcohol significantly influenced resistance-to-extinction, with the appropriate dose increasing the persistence of the response. The results of these experiments were taken to indicate that (a) alcohol does not really reduce fear in rats or (b) alcohol reduces fear, but the level of fear does not determine the acquisition or extinction of simple avoidance responses.