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Double responding in classical nictitating membrane conditioning with single-CS dual-ISI training

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Abstract

Rabbits were classically conditioned under a single-CS dual-ISI paradigm. Contrary to a previous experiment by Frey (1970), a separate CR was conditioned at each interstimulus interval (ISI), producing a double response (DR) on long-ISI trials. Further experiments indicated that DR development is facilitated by (a) circumorbital US-location and (b) relatively high US-intensity. However, subsequent shifts to nonoptimal conditions did not produce substantial decreases in DR frequency. The presence of DRs appears to be readily amenable to interpretation in terms of a Pavlovian stimulus-trace mechanism in which the US becomes associated with a particular temporal portion of the CS. An instrumental-response-shaping hypothesis of classical conditioning can explain these data only if the hypothetical reinforcement mechanism is assumed to be considerably more complex than had previously been supposed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, 47907, West Lafayette, Indiana

    Fred K. Hoehler & Dale W. Leonard

Authors
  1. Fred K. Hoehler
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  2. Dale W. Leonard
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Additional information

This Research was supported in part by United States Public Health Service Grant No. MH 22514-01 to the second author.

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Hoehler, F.K., Leonard, D.W. Double responding in classical nictitating membrane conditioning with single-CS dual-ISI training. Pav. J. Biol. Sci. 11, 180–190 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03000295

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03000295

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