Occasion setting of timing behavior.
Rats were trained on a temporal switching discrimination, with 2 features, A and B, signaling 2 target conditioned stimuli, x and y; feature offset and target onset were separated by a 5-s feature-target interval, and all target stimulus presentations terminated in a food pellet. The target conditioned stimuli were either short or long (6 or 30 s): Specifically, when signaled by A, x was 6 s and y 30 s, but when x and y were signaled by B, x was 30 s and y 6 s. Trials with 6-s and 30-s targets were termed short and long trials, respectively. Probe tests indicated that the animals correctly anticipated when food was to be delivered on these 2 types of trials. In further testing, the interval between feature offset and target onset was lengthened, to investigate the precise mechanism underlying this behavior. This manipulation did not have a substantial effect on discrimination performance. These results are discussed with reference to theories of occasion setting, timing, and configural learning.
Bonardi
Charlotte
C
School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England. cmb@psychology.nottingham.ac.uk
Jennings
Dómhnall
D
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D003210:Concept Formation; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003463:Cues; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012193:Reversal Learning; D013998:Time Perception