Abstract
Four experiments examined the effects of varying the conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus (CS-US) interval (and US density) on learning in an appetitive magazine approach task with rats. Learning was assessed with conditioned response (CR) measures, as well as measures of sensory-specific stimulus-outcome associations (Pavlovian-instrumental transfer, potentiated feeding, and US devaluation). The results from these studies indicate that there exists an inverse relation between CS-US interval and magazine approach CRs, but that sensory-specific stimulus-outcome associations are established over a wide range of relatively long, but not short, CS-US intervals. These data suggest that simple CR measures provide different information about what is learned than measures of the specific stimulus-outcome association, and that time is a more critical variable for the former than latter component of learning.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 202-222 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 2008 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- CS-US interval
- Pavlovian-instrumental transfer
- S-O associations
- motivational processes
- timing processes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology