Affiliation:
1. VA Hospital, Augusta, Georgia
Abstract
When rats were tested in a vicious circle paradigm, varying the location of shock in the alley from trial to trial had little or no effect. Trials to criterion data contradicted speed data in the second experiment, and this led to the rejection of speed data as a measure of the vicious circle effect. It was shown that speed data can introduce a bias which increases the probability of a significant vicious circle effect. The duration of intertrial interval was shown to be an important factor in vicious circle studies, and an explanation of the effects of intertrial interval was made based upon dissipation of reactive inhibition and of the autonomic aftereffects of shock.