title: Mechanisms of renewal after the extinction of instrumental behavior.
abstract: Four experiments with rats examined renewal of extinguished instrumental behavior when the reinforcement histories of the contexts were equated by giving complementary training and extinction of a different response (lever press and chain pull) in each context. In Experiments 1 through 3, renewal occurred when the response was tested in the acquisition context (ABA) or outside the extinction context (AAB and ABC). Further, in Experiments 1 through 3, when both responses were simultaneously available, there was a clear preference for the response that was not in its extinction context. In Experiment 4, renewal was not reduced when testing occurred in a context that had been associated with extinction of the other instrumental response. The experimental designs rule out differential context-reinforcer associations being the only contributing mechanism of renewal, and also raise questions about configural and occasion-setting accounts. The results are consistent with the idea that during extinction an inhibitory association is formed between the context and the response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, John Dewey Hall, 2 Colchester Ave., Burlington, VT 05405, USA. ttodd@uvm.edu
authors.forename: Travis P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Todd
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology*; D005108:Extinction, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar