ECS produced disruption or facilitation of discriminated active avoidance performance in rats

Two experiments investigated the effect of electroconvulsive shock on the performance of a one-way active avoidance response. In the first experiment it was found that if the response was learned under scopolamine, ECS given prior to relearning failed to produce a deficit. The second experiment demonstrated that ECS facilitated relearning of a response trained to a low criterion level while it disrupted performance of a response trained to a strict criterion. These results support other indications that Deutsch's memory model has predictive value for proactive effects of ECS on relearning (retrieval).