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The Effects Of Litter Size On Behavioral Development And Adult Emotinoality In The Rat, Elizabeth N. Pully

Master's Theses

The effects of the early experience variable of litter size is examined at two developmental time periods (infancy and adulthood) in the rat. The study departs from the majority of the early experience experimentation in its use of a naturally occurring independent variable in place of the typical handling and shocking procedures. Large (n = 9), medium (n = 5), small litters (n = 3) were developed by pooling rat pups at birth and then distributing them to randomly selected, lactating females. Observations of behaviors (including maternal grooming) during the preweaning stage of development disclosed substantial differences in response activity …

Learned Helplessness Through Observation: Failure To Escape Traumatic Shock As A Result Of Observing A Helpless Situation, Donald Jary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Twenty naïve male and female hooded rats were randomly divided into four groups of five subjects each. The Observe Helpless group was allowed to observe Helpless subjects receive signaled, inescapable electric shock, after which they were tested for effective escape response acquisition. Subjects in the Observe Naïve group were allowed to observe Naïve subjects being given escape-avoidance training using signaled presentations of electric shock, after which the Observe Helpless group was given similar escape-avoidance training. Results indicate that there were significant differences in the acquisition of effective escape responses between the Observe Helpless group and the other two groups. Possible …

The Relative Attenuation Of Self-Stimulation, Eating And Drinking Produced By Dopamine-Receptor Blockade, E. T. Rolls, B. J. Rolls, P. H. Kelly, S. G. Shaw, R. J. Wood, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Spiroperidol, which blocks dopamine (DA) receptors, attenuated self-stimulation of the nucleus accumbens, septal area, hippocampus, anterior hypothalamus and ventral tegmental area. Dopamine is thus involved in self-stimulation of many sites (in addition to the lateral hypothalamus). The attenuation was not a simple motor impairment of the speed of bar-pressing in that the nucleus accumbens and septal self-stimulation rates were lower than those in treated animals self-stimulating at other sites (Experiment 1). Feeding was partly attenuated, and drinking was much less attenuated by the spiroperidol. Since the rats bar-pressed for brain- stimulation reward, chewed pellets to eat, and licked a tube …

Effects Of Magnesium Deficiency On Discriminative Avoidance Behavior Of Rats, Mahlon B. Dalley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to develop and test a group of predictors that could be used by fundraisers to determine potential corporate support for environmental and recreational programs. Local surveys were conducted to determine environmental and recreational needs for Cache Valley and twenty interviews were held with local corporate managers. The information gathered in these interviews and the literature review provided a list of approximately 20 variables which were narrowed down to 10 to predict both the potential for giving and the level of giving.

A proposal for a youth training project was developed and local Forest Service …

The Effects Of Blindness On Tactile And Auditory Perception In Rats, James Malcolm Claiborn

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Folklore has long held that blind people gain, relative to normal people, in their sensitivity to other sensory modalities. Although supported only by equivocal evidence, this position probably first appeared in mythology in early Greek literature. Oedipus Rex was attributed greater awareness of people’s nature after this blindness. It is still a prevalent myth in contemporary American culture, to the extent that it appears in “Little Orphan Annie.” Experimental attempts at verification of this point began several years ago, but it remains a controversial issue. Literature on the topic can be divided up into several content areas: the relevance of …

The Effect Of Consummatory Stimuli On Brain Stimulation Reinforcement: Further Differentiation Of Killing And Feeding Mechanisms In The Posterior Hypothalamus Of Rats, Matthew S. Zweig

Senior Scholar Papers

Traditionally, killing or aggressive behavior has been viewed as an operant performed to gain reinforcement such as food. There is, however, increasing evidence indicating that killing is reinforcing in itself. Myer and White (1965) and Van Herrel (1970) have shown that natural killing behavior can be used to reinforce the learning of discrimination. Roberts and Kiess (1964) implanted electrodes in the anterior hypothalamus of natural non-killing rats and elicited killing behavior. They showed that this electrically elicited killing could also be used to reinforce the learning of discrimination. Thompson (1963,1964) demonstrated that both Siamese fighting fish and fighting game cocks …

Sub-Aversive Response Contingent Foot Shock As A Positive Reinforcer, Robert Lea Fulwiler

All Master's Theses

Forty-eight rats were divided into 8 groups; four were maintained under normal conditions and the other four under sensory deprivation and tested at o, 3, 6, and 9 days after condition institution. The response was placing the head through a hole in the operant chamber and the stimulus (0, 1.2, 4, or 12 Vac) was contingent upon the response. Analysis ot variance disclosed significant differences (p<.01) between the deprived and the non-deprived groups at days 6 and 9; and a significant interaction between deprivation condition and time of test. No differences were shown between the stimulus intensities indicating that the stimulus did not have a reinforcing effect.

Timidity, Emotionality, And Activity In Rats Deprived Of Grooming, Josiah B. Henneberger

Master's Theses

The purpose of this current study was to investigate the effect of restriction of grooming, by means of collars, on activity, emotionality, and timidity. On the basis of the common occurrence of grooming when under stress some relationship between licking and emotionality was assumed to exist by the author. it was therefore expected that differences would be found among the treatment group.

The current study made use of a three factor design. One factor was the treatment factor, another factor was the replications factor, and the third was the days factor. The days factor has repeated measures and the replications …

A Method For Quantifying The Effects Of Apomorphine Upon The Gnawing Syndrome Of The Rat, Paul Robinson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Various methods were tried in an attempt to obtain a technique for quantifying the gnawing effects of apomorphine on rats. A technique using a restraining tube was developed.

Under a 2 milligram per kilogram intraperitoneal injection of apomorphine, four female Long Evans hooded rats were placed on continuous and fixed reinforcement schedules using a gnawable pine block. Subjects would learn to turn their heads away from the gnawable object in order to obtain 15 seconds of gnawing time. The rate of response increased from less than one response in 5 minutes to over 3 responses per minute in 10 one-half …

Classically Conditioned Licking And Acquired Orienting As A Function Of Qualitatively Different Ucs Values : Acquisition, Shifting And Extinction, Jerry Weeks Rudy

Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (A) to study classically conditioned licking in rats as a function of a qualitative UCS difference, defined as 15% sucrose concentration and 0% concentration (plain tap water); (B) to study acquired orienting as a function of these UCS values. Several aspects of conditioned performance were investigated: (1) the effect of UCS intensity on level of responding during acquisition; (2) the effect of UCS intensity on rate of approach to terminal level of responding; (3) a possible learning performance distinction in appetitive classical conditioning; (4) rate of extinction as a function of the …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of 23 Hour Food Deprivation And 23 Hour Water Deprivation On The Weight And Intake Of The Albino Rat, Otis Byron Ward

Master's Theses

The present study is designed to make a direct comparison of food and water deprivation schedules both in terms of the animals' adjustment to the schedules and the relative effects of the two schedules on several weight and intake measures. The three groups used are: a control group, a 2) hour food deprivation schedule group, and a 23 hour water deprivation schedule group. The groups will be compared over a period of 50 days in terms of body weight, weight loss and gain, and food and water intake.

The Effects Of Water Deprivation On The Body Weight, Food Intake And Water Intake Of The Albino Rat, Kenneth A. Blick

Master's Theses

A survey of the literature reveals a substantial body of research concerned with the effects of food and/or water deprivation on body weight, food and water intake, and activity of the albino rat. This research is important because many psychological experiments, particularly those studies in the field of animal learning in which motivation is induced by the use of a nutritional maintenance schedule, require some measurement of performance on consecutive days during which the rats are in a motivational state.

Transfer In Handedness In The Rat Induced By Acetylcholine And Forced Practice, Charles A. Baker

Psychology ETDs

This study was designed to discover the effects of local applications of acetylcholine to the cerebral cortex of the rat in conjunction with forced reaching on handedness.