Role of context in perceptual learning in maze discriminations.
Three experiments with rats in a maze examined the effects of pre-exposure to the relevant discriminative stimuli (rubber- and sandpaper-covered maze arms) or the extra-maze context (the maze was surrounded either by black curtains or by variety of extra-maze landmarks) on the learning of a discrimination between rubber and sandpaper arms. In Experiment 1, pre-exposure to the extra-maze context facilitated subsequent discrimination learning. Experiments 2 and 3 showed that pre-exposure to rubber and sandpaper arms facilitated subsequent discrimination learning only when these cues were presented in the same context during pre-exposure and discriminative training. Taken together, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that a major cause of perceptual learning is the latent inhibition of stimuli or features common to the two discriminative stimuli, and that such latent inhibition may be disrupted by a radical change of context.
Trobalon
J B
JB
University of Barcelona, Spain.
Chamizo
V D
VD
Mackintosh
N J
NJ
D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009949:Orientation; D051381:Rats; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D012931:Social Environment