The effects of overtraining on flooding of jump-up and shuttlebox avoidance responses

Abstract

Two experiments are reported which test the effects of overtraining (2, 4 or 6 days) on the efficacy of flooding (response-prevention) in hastening the extinction of jump-up and two-way shuttlebox avoidance responses. In the jump-up box, overtraining reduces the effectiveness of flooding in two ways: Rats trained for 6 days and given a flooding treatment are more resistant to extinction than rats trained for only 2 or 4 days and given a flooding treatment. By contrast, rats trained for 6 days and given a control treatment are less resistant to extinction than control rats trained for 2 or 4 days. In the shuttlebox, overtraining neither reduces the effectiveness of flooding in hastening avoidance response extinction, nor reduces the resistance to extinction of control animals. Implications of these different effects of overtraining on jump-up and two-way shuttlebox responses are discussed.