Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Comparison of Auditory Thresholds Obtained with a Conditioned and an Unconditioned Response

Lee, Jennifer Elizabeth

Abstract Details

2012, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Psychology.
There are two types of behavioral approaches for determining if an animal can hear a sound. One is to observe an animal’s spontaneous response (reflex) to the sound; the other is to train (condition) it to respond to the sound. Because reflexive-response thresholds are typically not as low as conditioned-response thresholds, the question of whether the two thresholds are systematically related emerged. The purpose of the current research was to compare absolute thresholds for pure tones in rats obtained with a sensitive unconditioned procedure, prepulse inhibition, to thresholds obtained using a versatile conditioning procedure, conditioned suppression/avoidance. The results have practical and theoretical interest. Practically, we have found that thresholds obtained with prepulse inhibition, though less sensitive, can closely approximate those obtained with conditioned suppression/avoidance if the animals are tested in the same sound field and thresholds are determined by the Linear Interpolation method. Theoretically, these results provide insight into the sensitivity difference between conditioned and unconditioned responses.
Henry Heffner (Committee Chair)
98 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lee, J. E. (2012). Comparison of Auditory Thresholds Obtained with a Conditioned and an Unconditioned Response [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1325738685

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lee, Jennifer. Comparison of Auditory Thresholds Obtained with a Conditioned and an Unconditioned Response. 2012. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1325738685.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lee, Jennifer. "Comparison of Auditory Thresholds Obtained with a Conditioned and an Unconditioned Response." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1325738685

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)