Abstract
Five experiments with C57BL/6 mice (Mus musculus) investigated whether failures in shock processing might contribute to deficits in freezing that occur after an animal receives a shock immediately on exposure to a conditioning context. Experiment 1 found that more contextual freezing resulted from delayed shocks than from immediate shocks across 4 shock intensities. Experiment 2 extended the immediate-shock freezing deficit to discrete stimuli. Experiment 3 found that preexposure to the to-be-conditioned cue did not facilitate immediate cued conditioning. Experiment 4 found that context preexposure enhanced context-evoked fear after an immediate shock. Experiment 5 found that context preexposure also enhanced immediate cued conditioning. These findings are problematic for current theories of the immediate-shock freezing deficit that focus exclusively on processing of the conditioned stimulus, and they suggest that failures in shock processing may contribute to the deficit.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 394-406 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology