Second-order conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response

Second-order conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response (NMR) was investigated when second-order trials (CS1-CS2) were intermixed with first-order trials (CS2-US) from the outset of training. Experiment 1 showed that CR acquisition to CS1 was inversely related to the CS1-CS2 interval but nevertheless extended to an interval of 8,400 ms. Experiment 2 revealed that CR acquisition of CS1 was an inverted-U function of the number of CS1-CS2 trials relative to a fixed number of CS2-US trials. Experiment 3 directly contrasted second-order conditioning with a reinforced serial compound procedure (CS1-CS2-US) and a mixed procedure in which second-order trials were intermixed with the reinforced serial compound. Second-order conditioning was about half the strength of either the reinforced serial compound or the mixed procedure, which were similar. The present results are discussed with respect to the relative strength of excitatory and inhibitory processes in second-order conditioning.

[1]  C. L. Hull.  Knowledge and purpose as habit mechanisms. , 1930 .

[2]  C. L. Hull.  Goal attraction and directing ideas conceived as habit phenomena. , 1931 .

[3]  C. L. Hull.  The rat's speed-of-locomotion gradient in the approach to food. , 1934 .

[4]  A. Amsel.  The role of frustrative nonreward in noncontinuous reward situations. , 1958, Psychological bulletin.

[5]  D. C. Anderson,et al.  Dual effects of a second-order conditioned stimulus: Excitation and inhibition , 1968 .

[6]  R. Rescorla.  Pavlovian conditioned inhibition , 1969 .

[7]  S. R. Coleman,et al.  Classical conditioning of the rabbit's (Oryctolagus cuniculus) nictitating membrane response under symmetrical CS-US interval shifts. , 1971, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[8]  R. Rescorla,et al.  Associations in second-order conditioning and sensory preconditioning. , 1972, Journal of comparative and physiological psychology.

[9]  R. Rescorla,et al.  The effect of two ways of devaluing the unconditioned stimulus after first- and second-order appetitive conditioning. , 1975, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[10]  S. R. Coleman,et al.  Effects of partial reinforcement on conditioning, conditional probabilities, asymptotic performance, and extinction of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response , 1975, The Pavlovian journal of biological science.

[11]  P. W. Frey,et al.  Second-order conditioning: The importance of stimulus overlap on second-order trials , 1977 .

[12]  R. W. Griffin,et al.  Second-order conditioning of the pigeon’s keypeck , 1977 .

[13]  R. Rescorla,et al.  Aspects of the reinforcer learned in second-order Pavlovian conditioning. , 1979, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[14]  P. W. Frey,et al.  The eye blink as a time-locked response: implications for serial and second-order conditioning. , 1979, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[15]  P. Frey,et al.  Second-order conditioning: Different outcomes in fear and eyelid conditioning , 1979 .

[16]  C. M. Gibbs,et al.  Associative transfer and stimulus selection in classical conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response to serial compound CSs. , 1979, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[17]  I. Gormezano.  3 – Pavlovian Mechanisms of Goal-Directed Behavior1 , 1980 .

[18]  E. James Kehoe,et al.  Second-order conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response as a function of the CS2-CS1 and CS1-US intervals , 1981 .

[19]  J. Pearce,et al.  The Potentiation Effect during Serial Conditioning , 1981, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. B, Comparative and physiological psychology.

[20]  R. Rescorla.  Effect of a stimulus intervening between CS and US in autoshaping. , 1982, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[21]  E. Hearst,et al.  Bridging temporal gaps between CS and US in autoshaping: insertion of other stimuli before, during, and after CS. , 1982, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[22]  E. James Kehoe,et al.  Temporal dynamics of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response in serial compound conditioned stimuli. , 1984 .

[23]  E. Kehoe,et al.  Summation and configuration in patterning schedules with the rat and rabbit , 1985 .

[24]  E J Kehoe,et al.  Differential conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response to serial compound stimuli. , 1987, Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes.

[25]  C. M. Gibbs,et al.  Transduction of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response , 1988 .

[26]  E. Kehoe.  A layered network model of associative learning: learning to learn and configuration. , 1988, Psychological review.

[27]  I. Gormezano,et al.  Trace conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response as a function of CS-US interstimulus interval and trials per session , 1991 .