A FAILURE TO OBTAIN CONSISTENT UNCONDITIONED RESPONSES IN CLASSICAL FINGER WITHDRAWAL CONDITIONING
Abstract
An experiment was conducted in which 18 subjects (Ss) were given 50 tone-shock conditioning trials in a typical finger withdrawal conditioning situation with the shock UCS as intense as S could stand it. Ss were allowed neither to escape nor avoid the shock UCS in any way. Primary interest was in checking a finding of exploratory research that with such a classical conditioning procedure stable and consistent unconditioned finger flexions were the exception rather than the rule over wide ranges of several shock parameters. Only three Ss gave a UCR on all 50 conditioning trials while 7 gave no UCRs at all. The remaining eight Ss ranged unsystematically between these two limits. Additional trials with more intense shock for those Ss not giving any UCRs ruled out the possibility that this failure was due to the shock being initially too weak. The results that the failure to get consistent UCRs makes the finger withdrawal conditioning situation unsuited for systematic research on the laws of classical aversive conditioning. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 05, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0252868
Entities
People
- Kenneth W. Spence
- Milton A. Trapold
Organizations
- Iowa State University