Contextual control of conflicting associations in the developing rat.
Two experiments examined the effects of manipulations of contextual cues on the expression of conflicting associations in 18-, 26-, and 35-day-old rats. Subjects learned to GO RIGHT in a water-filled T-maze, then were trained to reverse this position habit (GO LEFT). When the competing responses were learned in the same visual context, all age groups displayed a recency effect on a subsequent test in extinction; they behaved in accordance with the last-learned GO LEFT habit. If the competing responses were learned in different visual contexts, and testing took place in the context of the first problem, 35-day-old subjects behaved in a manner consistent with the GO RIGHT context (reduced recency). However, similarly trained 18-day-old subjects showed no evidence of a reduced recency effect. Given that 18-day-old rats are sensitive to other context manipulations, the present results suggest that the ability to "disambiguate" conflicting associations by context may depend upon the maturation of a relatively late-developing configural learning system.
Moye
T B
TB
Department of Psychology, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52402.
Brasser
S M
SM
Palmer
L
L
Zeisset
C
C
D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D012107:Research Design; D012153:Retention, Psychology