CERTAIN PECULIARITIES OF THE UNCONDITIONED SALIVARY REFLEX IN DOGS AFTER CONDITIONED LIGHT AND SOUND STIMULI OF VARIOUS STRENGTHS

The fact that conditioned stimuli influence the course of unconditioned secretion is well known. It has been customary to explain the difference in the course of unconditioned secretion after application of so-called strong and weak conditioned stimuli in terms of premises of the law of strength, taking into account only the physical intensity of the conditioned stimuli. Research attention has not yet been timed to the influence of signal modality on the course of unconditioned secretion. When sound stimuli are applied the excitation and inhibition processes are concentrated rapidly, but slowly when visual stimuli are used. These differences in neurodynamics as functions of the modality of the conditioned stimulus permit the assumption that they may also appear in the manner in which conditioned signals influence the course of the unconditioned salivary response. This paper is devoted to clarification of this question. Experiments on three dogs are described and results indicate that unconditioned secretion begins at a higher level after the sound signal than the light signal.