Abstract
The effects of ethanol on avoidance-avoidance conflict behavior in a straight runway were studied in rats with a 2 by 2 design in which shock-escape training and subsequent shock-free conflict tests were administered after the animals had orally ingested either ethanol or sugar water. Rats trained under ethanol escaped shock more slowly and, during the conflict tests, approached the shock regions less closely, started and ran more slowly, and oscillated less than sugar-water-trained controls. However, rats tested under ethanol approached the shock regions more closely, started and ran more rapidly, oscillated more, and reversed direction more than rats tested when sober. No state-dependent interactions were obtained. Some of the results were consistent with a fear-reduction hypothesis, but others supported the assumption that ethanol affected the two avoidance gradients differentially.
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Supported in part by a predoctoral fellowship to C. L. Cunningham from the National Institute of General Medical Studies, by Training Grant AA07074 and Research Grant AA01229 from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and by Research Grant MH23607 from the National Institutes of Health. The second author is now at U.S. Army Research Institute, Fort Knox, Kentucky. The third author is now at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. A. J. Skurdal’s critique of the manuscript is acknowledged with thanks.
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Mansfield, J.G., Eaton, N.K., Cunningham, C.L. et al. Ethanol and avoidance-avoidance conflict in the rat. Psychobiology 5, 197–203 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335316
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335316