Twenty·eighf naive male albino rats were trained to lever press for sucrose. Half of the Ss were trained on a continuous-reinforcement schedule (CRF), and the other half of the Ss were trained on a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule. On treatment day, for half of the Ss in each group, a lever press produced foot shock followed by ECS. For the remaining Ss, a lever press produced foot shock only.
Results showed that ECS produced amnesia for the foot shock only in CRF-trained Ss_The fact that electroconvulsive shock (ECS) seems to produce retrograde amnesia (RA) when administered shortly after a learning trial is weil established (Spevack & Suboski, 1969). Perhaps the most widely accepted hypothesis to accoun t for this phenomenon suggests that memory consolidates over time. For example, Hebb (I 949) has suggested that following sensory input, the consolidation of memory is effected through a process of reverberation of impulses in CNS circuits. This process results in a structural modification such that the ability of one neuron to excite another is changed in a relatively permanent manner. The massive electrical interference of ECS should disrupt memory consolidation if applied during the reverberatory phase but should have no effect if applied after the structural change in the neuron has been effected.A1though a number of studies (e.g., Heriot & Coleman, 1962;Madsen & McGaugh, 1961) support a consolidation interpretation of the effects of ECS. In that study, two groups of rats were trained to lever press, one group on a continuous-reinforcement schedule (CRF) and the other on a fIxed-ratio schedule (FR 5). When Ss had reached a stable rate of responding, on pretest day a lever press was followed by foot shock. For half the Ss in each group, foot shock was followed by a single ECS; the .other half received no ECS_ All Ss were then subjected to a short retraining period. Results showed that, during re training, the CRF group that received foot shock plus ECS had a significantly higher response rate than the CRF group that received foot shock only and, in fact, showed no suppression of response rate. Both FR 5 groups, however, showed significantly suppressed response rates not significantly different from each other, although one group had received foot shoek plus ECS and the other group had received foot shock only.These findings do not support consolidation theory; however, it seems possible to question these results because, during acquisition, Ss received training until they reached a "stable rate of responding." The total number of responses was uncontrolled prior to treatment, and this difference in experience among Ss might be reflected in response rate during testing. Additionally, after the administration of foot shock, S was removed from the operant chamber, ear clips were attached, and ECS was then administered. This would necessarily result in some variability in the time interval between the offset of shock and the administration of ECS, and numerous studies have shown that this time interval is