Facilitation of extinction by an increase or a decrease in trial duration.
Five experiments examined the effects of altering the duration of a conditioned stimulus (CS) for extinction. For the first 3 experiments, rats received conditioning with a 10-s CS before different groups received extinction with a CS that was either the same duration or longer than that used for conditioning. For the remaining 2 experiments, conditioning was conducted with a 60-s CS before different groups received extinction with a CS of either the same duration or a shorter duration than that used for conditioning. In all experiments, extinction progressed more readily when the CS duration was different for the 2 stages than when it was constant. The results are discussed in terms of rate expectancy theory and associative learning theory.
Haselgrove
Mark
M
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3YG, United Kingdom. naselgrovem@cardiff.ac.uk
Pearce
John M
JM
D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003463:Cues; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D013997:Time Factors