Extinction of avoidance responding in rats: The noise-intensity parameter in noise-facilitation of flooding.

60 female hooded rats were given unsignaled avoidance training in the jump-up apparatus developed by the 1st author (1970) and were given a period of flooding followed by extinction testing. During flooding, 4 groups of 15 Ss each received different intensities of continuous white noise. The noise systematically changed spontaneous behavior during flooding and increased the efficacy of flooding in hastening extinction in a roughly monotonic fashion. The louder the noise during flooding, the greater were these effects. Findings are explained in terms of 3 theoretical frameworks: (1) 2-process fear theory, (2) the notion of adaptation to stress, and (3) a sign-tracking analysis. (French abstract) (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)