Abstract
The negative-tilt preparation that has been reported since the late seventies is a specific form of Pavlovian conditioning that is of scientific interest and has potential applications. In this paper I reflect on the usefulness, to the development of this preparation, of two approaches to Pavlovian conditioning. One approach is the older S-R learning, stimulus-substitution paradigm exemplified by learning texts of the sixties. The other is the modern, Tolman-like view, according to which the phenomenon of Pavlovian conditioning is “now described as the learning of relations among events so as to allow the organism to represent its environment.” The three assumptions encapsulated by this approach are: (a) that only CS-US contingency relations are learned; (b) that teleological modes of explanations are adequate; (c) that the representational theory of knowledge is sound.
Concerning Pavlovian conditioning in general, questions been raised in the literature for all three assumptions; they have not been adequately answered. Regarding the specific problem of developing the human Pavlovian heart-ratedecelerative conditioning with negative tilt as the US, I suggest that the cognitive approach has been much less helpful than the older, S-R, stimulus-substitution paradigm. Nevertheless, other literature clearly indicates that the cognitive, S-S approach has generated considerable interest and research, especially in preparations like the conditioned emotional response (CER), which are CS-IR ones in the sense that the effects on the CR are assessed indirectly through measuring an indicator or instrumental response (IR). Finally, even in CS-CR preparations like human GSR conditioning, it is important to study the cognitive, S-S learning process through using such dependent variables as continuously assessed subjective CS-US contingency.
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This article is based on an invited lecture at the Pavlovian Society meeting at Baltimore, September 1991. The research was supported by grants from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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Furedy, J.J. Reflections on human pavlovian decelerative heart-rate conditioning with negative tilt as US: Alternative approaches. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 27, 347–355 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691169
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02691169