TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations in Pavlovian conditioned inhibition
AU - Rescorla, Robert A.
AU - Holland, Peter C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation. We thank Joan Bombace for assistance in data collection and analysis. Dr. Holland is now at the University of Pittsburgh. Address reprint requests to Dr. Robert A. Rescorla, Department of Psychology, Yale University, 2 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut 06520.
PY - 1977/11
Y1 - 1977/11
N2 - Two experiments with rat subjects used a variety of transfer tests to examine the associations learned when Pavlovian inhibition is established by an A+, AX- paradigm. Experiment 1 found in a conditioned suppression situation that inhibition conditioned to X with one exciter (A) readily transferred to another exciter (B) which had been paired with the same shock US. Transfer occurred even when the response to A had been extinguished prior to testing with B. However, X did not inhibit a general activity response produced by a B which had been subsequently paired with a food US. Experiment 2 employed a Pavlovian conditioning situation in which A and B, when separately paired with the same food US, evoked dissimilar responses. Nevertheless, an inhibitor trained in an A+, AX- paradigm successfully inhibited the different response evoked by B. However, such an X did not inhibit the behaviors acquired by A or B when they were subsequently paired with a shock US. The transfer of Pavlovian inhibition across conditioned stimuli and responses but not across unconditioned stimuli is consistent with the notion that a conditioned inhibitor acts to prevent activation of a US representation which would normally be activated by conditioned exciters.
AB - Two experiments with rat subjects used a variety of transfer tests to examine the associations learned when Pavlovian inhibition is established by an A+, AX- paradigm. Experiment 1 found in a conditioned suppression situation that inhibition conditioned to X with one exciter (A) readily transferred to another exciter (B) which had been paired with the same shock US. Transfer occurred even when the response to A had been extinguished prior to testing with B. However, X did not inhibit a general activity response produced by a B which had been subsequently paired with a food US. Experiment 2 employed a Pavlovian conditioning situation in which A and B, when separately paired with the same food US, evoked dissimilar responses. Nevertheless, an inhibitor trained in an A+, AX- paradigm successfully inhibited the different response evoked by B. However, such an X did not inhibit the behaviors acquired by A or B when they were subsequently paired with a shock US. The transfer of Pavlovian inhibition across conditioned stimuli and responses but not across unconditioned stimuli is consistent with the notion that a conditioned inhibitor acts to prevent activation of a US representation which would normally be activated by conditioned exciters.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0001685405&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0001685405&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0023-9690(77)90044-3
DO - 10.1016/0023-9690(77)90044-3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0001685405
SN - 0023-9690
VL - 8
SP - 429
EP - 447
JO - Learning and Motivation
JF - Learning and Motivation
IS - 4
ER -