Second-order backward blocking and unovershadowing in human causal learning.
De Houwer and Beckers (in press, Experiment 1) recently demonstrated that ratings about the relation between a target cue T2 and an outcome are higher when training involves CT1+ and T1T2+ followed by C+ trials than when training involves CT1+ and T1T2+ followed by C- trials. We replicated this study but now explicitly asked participants to rate the causal status of the cues both before and after the C+ or C- trials. Results showed that causal ratings for T2 were significantly higher after C+ trials than before C+ trials and that T2 received significantly lower ratings after C- trials than before C- trials. The results thus provide the first evidence for higher-order unovershadowing and higher-order backward blocking. In addition, the ratings for T1 revealed that first-order backward blocking (i.e., decrease in ratings for T1 as the result of C+ trials) was stronger than first-order unovershadowing (i.e., increase in ratings for T1 as the result of C- trials).
De Houwer
Jan
J
Department of Psychology, University of Gent, Belgium. Jan.DeHouwer@rug.ac.be
Beckers
Tom
T
D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011337:Probability Learning; D011340:Problem Solving; D011597:Psychomotor Performance