title: Encoding specific associative memory: evidence from behavioral and neural manipulations.
abstract: Within-subjects procedures with rats assessed the associative structures acquired during conditioning trials in which the interval between the stimuli and food was either short or long (i.e., A-10 s→food and B-40 s→food). In Experiments 1 and 2, after these conditioning trials, A and B served as second-order reinforcers for 2 further stimuli (i.e., X→A and Y→B); whereas Experiment 3 used a sensory preconditioning procedure in which X→A and Y→B trials occurred before the conditioning trials, and rats were finally tested with X and Y. In each experiment, Y elicited greater responding at test than did X. This finding supports the contention that the long-lived trace of B (associated with food on B-40 s→food trials) is more similar to the memory of B that was associatively provoked by Y, than is the short-lived trace of A (associated with food on A-10 s→food trials) to the memory of A that was associatively provoked by X. These conclusions were reinforced by the effects of a neural manipulation that disrupted discrimination learning involving the short traces of stimuli but not the long traces of the same stimuli.
authors: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom. lint1@cardiff.ac.uk
authors: Tzu-Ching E
authors: TC
authors: Lin
authors: Robert C
authors: RC
authors: Honey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats