title: Extinction arouses attention to the context in a behavioral suppression method with humans.
abstract: One experiment assessed predictions from the attentional theory of context processing (ATCP, J. M. Rosas, J. E. Callejas-Aguilera, M. M. Ramos-Álvarez, & M. J. F. Abad, 2006, Revision of retrieval theory of forgetting: What does make information context-specific? International Journal of Psychology & Psychological Therapy, Vol. 6, pp. 147-166) that extinction arouses attention to contextual stimuli. In a video-game method, participants learned a biconditional discrimination (RG+/BG-/RY-/BY+) either after extinction of another stimulus had occurred, or not. When contextual stimuli were relevant to solving the discrimination (i.e., all RG+/BG- trials occurred in one context and all RY-/BY+ in another), prior extinction of another stimulus facilitated the discrimination, as if extinction enhanced attention to the contexts. Results are discussed briefly in terms of ATCP and the model of N. A. Schmajuk, Y. W. Lam, & J. A. Gray (1996, Latent inhibition: A neural network approach, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, Vol. 22, pp. 321-349).
authors: University of the Basque Country, San Sebastián, Spain. Jamesbyron.nelson@ehu.es
authors: James Byron
authors: JB
authors: Nelson
authors: Jeffrey A
authors: JA
authors: Lamoureux
authors: Samuel P
authors: SP
authors: León
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult