Effects of shock intensity on nondiscriminative avoidance learning of rats in a shuttlebox

Twenty-four rats were given 10 1-hr. sessions in a shuttlebox under conditions of nondiscriminative avoidance training. Half the Ss were trained with a high shock source of 250 v and half were trained with a moderate shock source of 75 v (150,000 ohms in series). Ss trained with 75 v made significantly more avoidance responses and they received significantly fewer shocks than Ss trained with 250 v. High shock intensity led to a general response suppression that was reflected in relatively poor avoidance learning.