Wolz J P, Hurst D L, Sherr A P, Spear N E
Am J Psychol. 1979 Jun;92(2):307-21.
Two studies investigated factors believed to influence the retention of acquired fear in rats. The results show clearly that the lack of forgetting over 24-hr interval reported by previous investigators is due to a depression of performance on the immediate test (3-min retention interval) resulting from the procedure of not handling the rats during conditioning but then handling them on every trial during the retention test. In accord with the McAllister's interpretation of related results, the depression of performance after short retention intervals may be due to a lack of generalization from training to the testing situation. As the retention interval is lengthened, the amount of generalization increases and escape performance improves on a relative basis. The nature of the retention function may be severely distorted by selection of an inappropriate paradigm for its evaluation.
两项研究调查了被认为会影响大鼠习得性恐惧保持的因素。结果清楚地表明，先前研究者报告的在24小时间隔内缺乏遗忘现象，是由于在条件反射过程中不处理大鼠，但在保持测试的每次试验中都处理它们，导致即时测试（3分钟保持间隔）时表现受到抑制。根据麦卡利斯特对相关结果的解释，短保持间隔后表现受到抑制可能是由于从训练到测试情境缺乏泛化。随着保持间隔延长，泛化量增加，逃避表现相对有所改善。如果选择不适当的范式来评估保持功能的性质，可能会严重扭曲其性质。
