Naloxone fails to block the effects of chlordiazepoxide on acquisition and performance of successive discrimination.

Naloxone reduces the effects of chlordiazepoxide on punishment and on acquisition of differential reinforcement of low rates of response. The present experiments tested whether naloxone also reduces the effects of chlordiazepoxide on a second type of nonreward schedule--successive discrimination. Rats were tested on a variable interval baseline of responding for food with signalled intrusion periods when food was no longer available. Naloxone (3 mg/kg IP) failed to change the effects of chlordiazepoxide (5 mg/kg IP) on either acquisition or performance of this successive discrimination. DRL and successive discrimination differ both in their timing of events and their use of explicit visual stimuli. If these or similar parametric differences account for the present results they considerably weaken conventional accounts of the control of behaviour by reward omission.