Effects of discrimination training on responding during a compound conditioned stimulus.
Four experiments examined responding in the presence of a triple-element compound ABC after discrimination training in which 2 compounds, AB and BC, signaled the delivery of food and 1 element alone, B, signaled the absence of food. In Experiments 1 and 2, using rats, responding during ABC was more vigorous than in a control group for which A and C but not B had been individually paired with food. This finding was replicated in Experiment 3, which used pigeons, and in Experiment 4, where all 3 stimuli of the control condition were individually paired with food. The results are more consistent with a configural than with an elemental theory of learning.
Pearce
J M
JM
School of Psychology, University of Wales College of Cardiff, Great Britain.
Adam
J
J
Wilson
P N
PN
Darby
R J
RJ
D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D003118:Color Perception; D010856:Columbidae; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D013045:Species Specificity