The role of information about the response-outcome relation in instrumental discrimination learning.
In 4 instrumental learning experiments, the hierarchical organization among responses (R), outcomes (O), and stimuli (S) was examined. Each experiment explored the possibility that S becomes associated with the R-O relation by providing information about that relation. In each case, an analogy was developed to a paradigm that has been important for concluding that informational relations affect Pavlovian conditioning. Experiments 1 and 2 found an effect of the information that S provides about the R-O relation, using paradigms analogous to blocking and contingency experiments. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated a similar result, using a paradigm like that of relative validity. In each case, the experiments pointed to the importance of the information that S gives about the R-O relation, rather than about the individual R and O elements.
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104.
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D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001245:Association Learning; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains