State-dependent models of ECS-induced amnesia in rats

Conducted 3 experiments with a total of 220 male albino Sprague-Dawley rats, to investigate 2 state-dependent hypotheses which state that ECS-induced amnesia occurs when (a) the physiological state during testing is dissimilar from that during training (regardless of when consolidation occurs), or (b) the state at testing differs from that during consolidation (consolidation is assumed to occur after ECS). Data were gathered in a 1-trial passive-avoidance apparatus, and amnesia as a function of states during acquisition, consolidation, and testing was examined. Exp. I failed to support the train-test, state-dependent position. Exp. II produced data consistent with the consolidate-test, state-dependent position, but Exp. III found that the consolidate-test, state-dependent data were confounded by an induced recovery effect independent of S's physiological state at the time of testing. Although inconsistent with either of the state-dependent hypotheses, data support a retrieval-failure view of experimental amnesia. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).