The effects of alcohol on escape learning and on regular and punished extinction in a self-punitive situation with rats

Abstract

The effects of alcohol on aversively motivated locomotor behavior were examined using female rats in a short straight alleyway. A 2 by 2 by 2 factorial design included alcohol and no-alcohol conditions during escape training, and punishment or no punishment and alcohol or no alcohol during extinction of the escape response. Alcohol was found to interfere with acquisition of the escape response, to counteract the facilitatory effects of shock punishment, and to enhance performance during nonpunished extinction. The results are congruent with a traditional conditioned fear theory, amended by the notion that only partial fear responses are evoked under an inhibiting effect of alcohol. The results are also discussed in terms of state-dependency conceptions, with the addition of cue distinctiveness contributing to motivational and/or associational effects of alcohol. © 1975, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.