Abstract
Manipulation of the daily frequency and duration of the preconditioning stimulus exposure in Pavlovian conditioning of the nictitating membrane response of 32 New Zealand white rabbits suggested that the intensity of latent inhibition was related to the absolute frequency of preconditioning stimulus exposure trials, and apparently was a stepwise function of the frequency of daily preconditioning trials. Similarly, the intensity of latent inhibition was related to the absolute duration of the preconditioning stimulus exposure. However, latent inhibition accrued to the cumulative effect of all stimulus durations across days rather than only to the repetitive presentation of one stimulus.
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The authors are grateful to the Department of Psychology for providing the funds to purchase the rabbits, and to the University Research Committee for awarding a small grant to the second author to assist in the purchase of rabbit cages. This report is based upon a thesis submitted to California State University, Long Beach, by the first author in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Master’s degree in psychology.
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Clarke, M.E., Hupka, R.B. The effects of stimulus duration and frequency of daily preconditioning stimulus exposures on latent inhibition in Pavlovian conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 4, 225–228 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336717
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336717