Cue or place learning in one-way avoidance acquisition?

The results of two experiments suggest that neither nominal nor apparatus- produced CSs are necessary for the acquisition of the one- way avoidance response. In contrast to the results of studies using a variety of tasks, stimulus preexposure does not disrupt conditioning in the one- way avoidance task. Animals given 30 preexposures to a tone CS, a movable door CS, or a compound consisting of both acquired the avoidance response at the same rate as nonpreexposed controls (Experiment 1). A second experiment demonstrated that 90 preexposures to the compound CS also did not retard conditioning. These data, combined with videotaped observations of animals during CAR acquisition, suggest that one- way avoidance is acquired via the association of a place (the shock compartment) rather than a cue with the UCS.