title: Forms of inhibition in animal and human learning.
abstract: Forms of inhibition were identified in human predictive learning that are qualitatively similar to those identified by P.C. Holland (1984) in rats. When P (positive) signaled the outcome and PN (N = negative) signaled the absence of the outcome, participants learned the discrimination, but the negative cue did not suppress responding to a transfer cue. Post-learning reversal training, in which N was followed by the outcome, did not abolish the original discrimination. These 2 results imply a configural form of inhibition. Negative transfer, which indicated a 2nd, elemental form of inhibition, was observed when neither PN nor N were reinforced during the discrimination stage. Under these conditions, negative transfer and the original discrimination were both abolished by individually pairing N with the outcome. Empirical parallels and differences with the animal conditioning literature are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011337:Probability Learning; D011340:Problem Solving; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014163:Transfer, Psychology