Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
Date of Award
5-2010
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Frederick A. Ernst
Second Advisor
Dr. Robert K. Dearth
Third Advisor
Dr. Grant Benham
Abstract
Handling has been used as a stressor and a stress-protector in research on development in rats. Tactile stimulation (TS), on the other hand, has consistently been shown to favorably affect the performance and exploratory behaviors of stressed rats in novel environments and this effect is usually interpreted as evidence of attenuating the developmentally-related emotional consequences of stress. In the present study, the effects of TS during maternal separation (MS) were explored during a critical period of development in rats. An open-field task to measure exploratory behavior was used as a dependent measure of anxiety at a pre-pubertal period. It was hypothesized that early handling would attenuate the emotional effects of MS with TS rats revealing more exploratory behavior.
Granting Institution
University of Texas-Pan American
Comments
Copyright 2010 Nancy I. Salinas. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/does-tactile-stimulation-attenuate-adverse/docview/725713461/se-2?accountid=7119