Abstract
Conflict behavior induced by punishing the animal's approach to food has been frequently studied in cats or rats as a means for evaluating the effects of drugs upon neurotic conditions. In 1945 Masserman and Yum (1) showed that alcohol prevented the development of neurotic behavior in cats and abated the neurotic behavior. A similar result was obtained by Conger (2) in rats. Jacobsen and Skaarup (3), modifying the technique described by Masserman, introduced a method which permits evaluation of drug effects upon behavior with ease. They found that benzilic acid aminoester derivatives, especially benactyzine, have a clear-cut normalizing effect in cats. Recently Naess and Rasmussen (4), Geller and Seifter (5), and other workers proposed newer procedures which allowed more objective evaluation of drugs upon behavior.
This paper describes a method for inducing conflict behavior in dogs, and the effects of some drugs upon the conflict behavior.
