Ethanol as the negative reinforcer in an active avoidance paradigm

• 1.

  1) Two groups of rats were trained to jump a hurdle in order to avoid the intravenous infusion of either 800 mg/kg ethanol or saline.

• 2.

  2) In Phase I, with the hurdle height fixed at 9″, none of the animals acquired the avoidance response. In Phase II, where the hurdle height was slowly increased from 1″ to a maximum of 10″, all of the animals receiving ethanol but none of the animals receiving saline acquired the avoidance response.

• 3.

  3) This finding suggests that some properties of ethanol are aversive and can motivate the acquisition of an active avoidance response.