Abstract
Two experiments examined the conditioning of a discriminated eyeblink response to the abstract property of “truthfulness” in visually presented verbal statements. Learning was assessed with a measure of change in eyelid activity following conditioned stimulus (CS) presentations. In the first experiment, a list of randomized statements was presented, half of which were true and half of which were false. Each false statement in this experiment was paired with a corneal air puff (the US). The second experiment used the same procedure to compare true and false statements as conditioned stimuli, except it varied the range of CS–US intervals employed. The results support previous findings by showing that the truth value of presented statements can serve as a conditioned stimulus in an eyeblink conditioning procedure, and that both true and false statements can serve as conditioned stimuli. The results also show that the interstimulus interval is an important factor in such conditioning. Implications for future research, and the interpretation of previous studies exploring similar conditioning, are discussed.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks are due to Lisa A. Osborne for her support and comments on this research. Requests for reprints of this manuscript should be addressed to Phil Reed, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, U.K. (e-mail: p.reed@swansea.ac.uk).
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Appendix 1: Trial Statements
Appendix 1: Trial Statements
Trial | Statement | Truth Value |
1 | You are sitting in a chair | TRUE |
2 | The world is round | TRUE |
3 | You are the Queen of England | FALSE |
4 | Books have pages | TRUE |
5 | You own a kangaroo | FALSE |
6 | Acorns are nuts | TRUE |
7 | Circles are round | TRUE |
8 | This room has a desk | TRUE |
9 | Elephants have scales | FALSE |
10 | This room is in a building | TRUE |
11 | The sun is smaller than the earth | FALSE |
12 | Humans are green | FALSE |
13 | This room has windows | FALSE |
14 | The world is flat | FALSE |
15 | Sheep have wool | TRUE |
16 | Mice are smaller than cats | TRUE |
17 | You eat rocks | FALSE |
18 | Beer is a liquid | TRUE |
19 | Lead is heavier than paper | TRUE |
20 | Days are longer than weeks | FALSE |
21 | Swansea is in China | FALSE |
22 | Strawberries are fruits | TRUE |
23 | You are in Australia | FALSE |
24 | Grass is blue | FALSE |
25 | This room has computers | TRUE |
26 | Pigeons are birds | TRUE |
27 | You live in an igloo | FALSE |
28 | Humans are plants | FALSE |
29 | Squirrels are birds | FALSE |
30 | Water is a liquid | TRUE |
31 | Pigs can fly | FALSE |
32 | Flowers are reptiles | FALSE |
33 | The sun orbits the earth | FALSE |
34 | Squirrels climb trees | TRUE |
35 | Rocks are alive | FALSE |
36 | This room is silent | FALSE |
37 | Birds have feathers | TRUE |
38 | Albert Einstein was a physicist | TRUE |
39 | You are an astronaut | FALSE |
40 | You are looking at a computer | TRUE |
41 | Penguins are reptiles | FALSE |
42 | Lead is worth more than gold | FALSE |
43 | Humans lay eggs | FALSE |
44 | This room has walls | TRUE |
45 | Carrots are vegetables | TRUE |
46 | Swansea has beaches | TRUE |
47 | Humans have feathers | FALSE |
48 | Birds have wings | TRUE |
49 | Libraries have books | TRUE |
50 | You own an island | FALSE |
51 | Sheep are mammals | TRUE |
52 | Humans need food to survive | TRUE |
53 | Jesus was a penguin | FALSE |
54 | London is in the U.K. | TRUE |
55 | You are younger than 70 | TRUE |
56 | You are sitting on a couch | FALSE |
57 | You have a head | TRUE |
58 | Roses are flowers | TRUE |
59 | Paper is heavier than lead | FALSE |
60 | The earth is spinning | TRUE |
61 | Bananas are yellow | TRUE |
62 | You are a tree | FALSE |
63 | London is in Wales | FALSE |
64 | Violins are instruments | TRUE |
65 | You are a student | TRUE |
66 | Paris is in America | FALSE |
67 | Money grows on trees | FALSE |
68 | Red is a color | TRUE |
69 | You are a sausage | FALSE |
70 | Cats are larger than horses | FALSE |
71 | China is in Asia | TRUE |
72 | The earth orbits the moon | FALSE |
73 | Water is heavier than air | TRUE |
74 | You are a human | TRUE |
75 | Snow is white | TRUE |
76 | You are studying dentistry | FALSE |
77 | You are in Wales | TRUE |
78 | Bananas are purple | FALSE |
79 | The sun is hot | TRUE |
80 | Cars have wheels | TRUE |
81 | Humans live under water | FALSE |
82 | The sky is blue | TRUE |
83 | Lead is heavier than wood | TRUE |
84 | Triangles have three sides | TRUE |
85 | This room is full of water | FALSE |
86 | Swansea is in Wales | TRUE |
87 | Fish live in water | TRUE |
88 | Salt tastes sweet | FALSE |
89 | Humans are reptiles | FALSE |
90 | Chickens lay eggs | TRUE |
91 | London is in China | FALSE |
92 | You have three eyes | FALSE |
93 | You sleep in a bed | TRUE |
94 | Humans need air | TRUE |
95 | You sleep in a pile of hay | FALSE |
96 | Keyboards have buttons | TRUE |
97 | Pens have ink | FALSE |
98 | Fire is cold | FALSE |
99 | Humans are mortal | TRUE |
100 | This room has no ceiling | FALSE |
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Tomash, J.J., Reed, P. Conditioning a Discriminated Eyeblink Response to the “Truth Value” of Statements. Psychol Rec 65, 657–666 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-015-0136-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-015-0136-1