title: Extending continuous versus discontinuous conditioned stimuli before versus after unconditioned stimuli.
abstract: Conditioned suppression was used with rats to study the effects of extending conditioned stimuli (CSs) before versus after the delivery of unconditioned stimuli. These extensions are termed B and A extensions, respectively. Within-group designs were used to compare the effects of extending CSs when 2-min parts of those CSs were separated by temporal gaps of 6 min versus a separation of no gap. The results were as follows: (a) B extensions weakened conditioning more than did A extensions, with or without gaps; (b) under some conditions, this asymmetrical effect persisted with extended training; (c) gaps between 2-min parts of a B extension had no detectable effect; and (d) under some parameter values, gaps between 2-min parts of an A extension weakened conditioning significantly. These results are better predicted by the Sometimes Opponent-Process model (SOP; A. R. Wagner, 1981) than by the Rescorla-Wagner-Frey-Sears real-time model (J. J. B. Ayres, M. Albert, & J. C. Bombace, 1987).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Concordia College, Amherst, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ricker
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bevins
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ayres
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D051381:Rats; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule