258 THE VALIDITY OF ACTIVE AVOIDANCE OPERANT LEARNING RETENTION TESTING IN DETECTING ASPHYCTIC (ASPHX) EFFECTS IN RAT SUCKLINGS (RS)

Difficulty has been noted in learning (maze performance, etc.) in adult rats who have had neonatal asphyxia. Growth & develop, changes have also been cited. This study planned to detect learning problems in asphx RS by an active avoidance operant test. 25 sex-specific asphx RS (subjected to 4 days of asphyxia at 24 hrs. apart) & 30 controls were studied. All were then trained to avoid a .6m Amp foot pad shock in a V-trough chamber with light stimulus. The # of trials needed to avoid being shocked 9 out of 10 times was then calculated & compared. Retention testing was done at 24 hr. & 1 wk. post training.