Mediated conditioning versus retrospective revaluation in humans: the influence of physical and functional similarity of cues.
Two experiments assessed whether similarity between the two elements of a compound would influence the degree of mediated extinction versus recovery from overshadowing in human causal judgements. In both Experiments 1 and 2, we assessed the influence of extinguishing one element of a two-element compound on judgements about the other element. In Experiment 1 we manipulated the physical similarity of the two elements of the compound; in Experiment 2, we used equivalence and distinctiveness pretraining in order to vary their functional similarity. We found that these procedures influenced mediated extinction and recovery from overshadowing as a function of both physical and acquired similarity and distinctiveness, respectively. The implications of these results for previously reported differences between humans and nonprimate animals are discussed.
Liljeholm
Mimi
M
Department of Psychology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA. mlil@ucla.edu
Balleine
Bernard W
BW
D001245:Association Learning; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D003463:Cues; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies