Marc Richelle

Action of chlordiazepoxide on two types of temporal conditioning in rats

Abstract The action of chlordiazepoxide on two kinds of behaviour involving a temporal component is studied. Rats were trained, in an operant conditioning situation to press a lever for food either on a fixed interval schedule of reinforcement or on a schedule of differential reinforcement of low rates of responding. In both cases, a temporal discrimination develops; in the first case, it is spontaneous , while it is the condition for reinforcement in the second case. Chlordiazepoxide increases the conditioned activity, as measured by the number of responses, and produces a disruption of timing behaviour. Both effects are more pronounced, and can be observed for smaller doses of the drug, under the fixed interval schedule, where the temporal discrimination is not the condition for reinforcement. Results are discussed in terms of drug behaviour interaction. The muscle relaxant action of chlordiazepoxide is hypotetically suggested as an explanation of its effects on timing behaviour.

Amineptine, response timing and time discrimination in the albino rat

Experiment 1 recorded the effects of single (doses of 1, 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) and repeated intraperitoneal injections (10 mg/kg) of amineptine (a tricyclic antidepressant drug) on the performance of albino rats in differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL) of 30 s, fixed-interval (FI) of 60 s, and signalled continuous reinforcement (CRF-SD) schedules. In the second experiment, the effects of repeated (10 mg/kg) and single injections (20 mg/kg) were assessed on the discrimination of the duration of auditory stimuli (2 and 8 s). A dose-related increase in response rates was observed in FI and DRL, correlating with a dose-related impairment in the temporal regulation of performance. However, the drug remained without effect on duration discrimination. In other respects, decreases in response latency in CRF-SD or duration discrimination tended to indicate that the drug improved vigilance and reactivity to extraneous significant stimuli. Interpretations in terms of sensitization, tolerance, or dependency could be discarded. Our data support the hypothesis that drug effects on temporal regulation in FI and DRL are secondary to a nonspecific activation of motor activity. They question the plausibility of an antidepressant effect of the drug in humans via modulation of a timing mechanism.

Behavioural effects of a prolonged treatment with small doses of morphine in cats

SummaryThree cats, conditioned to respond for food in a Skinner-box on an FI schedule of reinforcement, were submitted during 3 months to chronic treatment with daily doses of 0.2 mg/kg morphine hydrochloride. After an initial phase where no effect was observed, the subjects manifested increased responding and a deterioration of timing behaviour. Behavioural tolerance was shown to develop to both effects. Withdrawing the drug resulted in the immediate or progressive suppression of conditioned activity. The findings are discussed by reference to generally accepted conceptions of tolerance and physical dependence.

From Biotemporality to Nootemporality: Toward an Integrative and Comparative View of Time in Behavior

The title of this paper refers to the levels of temporality as proposed by J.T. Fraser (1982) and, more precisely, to the two highest levels on a scale of cosmic evolution. Whatever the epistemological status of Fraser#x2019;s levels concept (for a thoughtful discussion see Michon, 1985c, also chapter 20 of the present volume), it is obvious that time in living systems on the one hand and time in human and infrahuman behavior and mind on the other appear as two distinct fields of research. Roughly, the first is the field of chronobiology which deals with biological rhythms and their underlying mechanisms. The second is a branch of psychology. It addresses itself to problems such as time estimation, the emergence of the concept of time in the child, the ›time horizon› in normal and abnormal individuals and so on. If one looks upon these as purely cultural matters and if one favors a radical rupture between the biological and the cultural, the question of the relation between the two levels becomes irrelevant. If, on the contrary, one adheres to the evolutionary view, it is important to look for some continuity between successive levels of temporality, and to trace back to their biological roots the origin of behaviors and ideas related to time in humans. Human beings exhibit some pragmatic organization of time or time allocation in their daily life, they show capacities for elaborate cognitive treatment of temporal information, they build conceptual constructs about time, and they experience time with various affective connotations (temps vecu or subjective experience of time).

Effet d'un traitement prolongé au chlordiazépoxide sur un conditionnement temporel chez le rat

SummarySix rats were trained to press a lever for food in a Skinner-box, on a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement (F I 2 min.). The effects of various doses of chlordiazepoxide (1 to 8 mg, i.p.) on their behavior was studied. Then, each animal underwent a series of 35 daily experimental sessions with 6 mg of the drug. Chlordiazepoxide induced an increase of conditioned activity and a disruption of the temporal discrimination characterizing the behavior in the F I schedule. The first of these effects persisted, in most subjects, throughout the treatment, while the second was attenuated. No clear-cut effect of tolerance is shown, in the experimental conditions used, at the behavioral level. Results are discussed with reference to the complexity of the concept of tolerance, especially when behavioral data are involved.

Action of a new psychotropic drug (sulpiride) on avoidance behavior in rats.

Sulpiride, a new psychotropic drug with neuroleptic activity, was administered to rats in a Sidman avoidance schedule. Doses ranging from 1 to 80 mg/kg resulted in the animal receiving fewer shocks. This effect was not correlated with an increase of responding and seemed unrelated to the suppressing action abruptly observed at high doses (i. e. 150 to 200 mg/kg). These results differ from those classicaly obtained with other neuroleptics.

Behavioural effects of a long-term treatment with meprobamate in cats

Abstract The action of meprobamate on conditioned behaviour was studied with cats. The subjects were trained to press a lever for food in a Skinner-☐ on a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement. They develop a typical pattern of behaviour, characterized by a spontaneous temporal discrimination. Meprobamate increases the rate of responding and disrupts the temporal discrimination. These effects are similar to those obtained with chlordiazepoxide. Both effects are reduced and disappear with prolonged treatment (150 mg meprobamate daily). The tolerance extends to the general motor symptoms observed at the beggining of the treatment. When chlordiazepoxide is again administered after tolerance to meprobamate has developed, its effects on conditioned behaviour are still observed, though those on general motor behaviour are not (partial cross-tolerance). Animals treated with high doses show withdrawal reaction when the drug is no longer administered.

Antagonismes des effets centraux et périphériques de la trémorine par deux parasympathicolytiques: L'atropine et la scopolamine

SummaryAdministered to rats trained in an operant conditioning situation on a fixed interval schedule of reinforcement (FI) or on a schedule of differential reinforcement of low rates of responding (DRL), tremorine in doses of 0.5–5 mg/kg intraperitoneally depressed the rate of responding. The rats trained on the DRL-schedule were slightly more resistent to tremorine than the rats trained on the FI-schedule. In both types the effect increased with increasing doses. Administration of atropine (1 mg/kg i. p.) or scopolamine (0.8 mg/kg i. p.) increased the rate of responding. In contrast to scopolamine, atropine did not alter the distribution of responses in time. In a third experiment, the subjects received 5 mg/kg tremorine, plus 1 mg/kg atropine or 0.8 mg/kg scopolamine. The behavioural effects of tremorine, observed in the first experiment, were antagonized by both drugs, the temporal regulation showing a pattern similar to the pattern obtained under the antagonizing drug alone.

Experimental analysis of behaviour in the European French-speaking area

The influence and development of behaviour analysis in French‐speaking Europe has been different in the different countries, as can be seen when comparing developments in France and in the French‐speaking parts of Belgium and Switzerland. French psychology has shown persistent reluctance towards behaviour analysis, except for a few individuals in a few institutional circles. On the other hand, Belgium has been the main centre from which behaviour analysis has propagated to the French‐speaking area as a whole. Territorial specificities both in experimental analysis and in applied behaviour analysis are described and placed in context. In general, French‐speaking Europe has not been especially receptive to Skinners radical analysis of behaviour. Few of Skinners books have been translated into French, as compared with other major Western languages. In none of the geographical areas being considered was psychology prepared to integrate radical behaviourism, in spite of its having important experimental deve...

From Action to Cognition: Bridging the Gap?

After a short historical reminder, emphasizing the place of the French scientific and philosophical tradition in the study of time, the issue of the continuity vs discontinuity between levels in the psychological treatment of temporality is discussed, especially with reference to the cognitive models that insist on the independence of higher processes. Appealing to contributions to the present volume and to other relevant studies or domains, a claim is made for continuity, on the basis of methodological and empirical arguments.