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Modulatory mechanisms in Pavlovian conditioning

  • Published: June 1995
  • Volume 23, pages 123–143, (1995)
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Modulatory mechanisms in Pavlovian conditioning
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  • Dale Swartzentruber1 

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Abstract

Pavlovian conditioning has traditionally been thought to involve the acquisition of excitatory and inhibitory associations between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). Recent research, however, has encouraged the view that Pavlovian learning may also encompass a higher order modulatory mechanism, in which animals use information about another stimulus to control responding to the CS. Positive modulators signal a positive relationship between the CS and the US, whereas negative modulators signal that the CS-US relationship is not in force. In both cases, the modulatory control appears to be orthogonal to the modulator’s direct associations with the US. This article reviews and evaluates the literature on this Pavlovian modulatory mechanism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Ohio Wesleyan University, 43015, Delaware, OH

    Dale Swartzentruber

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  1. Dale Swartzentruber
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Correspondence to Dale Swartzentruber.

Additional information

Preparation of this article was partially supported by National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral training Grant MH 09896 to the author. I thank Peter C. Holland, Robert A. Rescorla, and anonymous reviewers for their comments on the manuscript.

—Accepted by previous editor, Vincent M. LoLordo

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Swartzentruber, D. Modulatory mechanisms in Pavlovian conditioning. Animal Learning & Behavior 23, 123–143 (1995). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199928

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  • Received: 11 January 1994

  • Accepted: 13 September 1994

  • Issue Date: June 1995

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199928

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Keywords

  • Conditioned Stimulus
  • Unconditioned Stimulus
  • Inhibitory Control
  • Journal ofExperimental Psychology
  • Conditioned Inhibition
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