Acoustical determinants of the “neurotic pattern” in rats

Abstract

The experiments reported in the present paper show that the peculiar behavior called the “neurotic pattern” by Maier is dependent upon the intensity and the frequency of auditory stimulation. The frequencies most effective in producing the seizures (when intensity is controlled) are unquestionably supersonic. Experiments with a Galton whistle and a pure-tone oscillator indicate that they are higher than 21,000 cycles per second. This fact requires that the findings of other workers with respect to the importance of “conflict” must either be reinterpreted or repeated with better control of acoustic conditions than has heretofore been exercised.