Is Perruchet's dissociation between eyeblink conditioned responding and outcome expectancy evidence for two learning systems?
P. Perruchet (1985b) showed a double dissociation of conditioned responses (CRs) and expectancy for an airpuff unconditioned stimulus (US) in a 50% partial reinforcement schedule in human eyeblink conditioning. In the Perruchet effect, participants show an increase in CRs and a concurrent decrease in expectancy for the airpuff across runs of reinforced trials; conversely, participants show a decrease in CRs and a concurrent increase in expectancy for the airpuff across runs of nonreinforced trials. Three eyeblink conditioning experiments investigated whether the linear trend in eyeblink CRs in the Perruchet effect is a result of changes in associative strength of the conditioned stimulus (CS), US sensitization, or learning the precise timing of the US. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that the linear trend in eyeblink CRs is not the result of US sensitization. Experiment 3 showed that the linear trend in eyeblink CRs is present with both a fixed and a variable CS-US interval and so is not the result of learning the precise timing of the US. The results are difficult to reconcile with a single learning process model of associative learning in which expectancy mediates CRs.
Weidemann
Gabrielle
G
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. G.Weidemann@unsw.edu.au
Tangen
Jason M
JM
Lovibond
Peter F
PF
Mitchell
Christopher J
CJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D003215:Conditioning, Eyelid / Q000502:physiology*; D032201:Euphrasia / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult