Abstract
Thomas and Empedocles (1992) proposed that in a retention test, the relative enhancement of responding when the context that had accompanied training is again present might reflect suppression of responding by the alternative test context rather than memory retrieval due to the training context. In Experiment 1, pigeons trained to keypeck in the presence of a (red or blue) colored houselight later responded substantially more in testing in the presence of the training houselight color rather than the alternative color. In Experiment 2, exposure to the (red or blue) houselight color preceded keypeck training under a white houselight condition for one group; for a second group, it followed it. Neither group showed a significant “preference” for the familiar houselight color during testing, whereas a control group, trained as in Experiment 1, did. Thus a contextual stimulus present during reinforced training can help to retrieve the memory of that training experience, as demonstrated by testing strategy which controls for a novelty effect of the nontraining context condition.
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We wish to thank Michelle Smith for assistance in the collection of data and Eric Wiertelak for performing a pilot study that preceded the present work.
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Thomas, D.R., Morrison, S.K. Novelty versus retrieval cue value of visual contextual stimuli in pigeons. Animal Learning & Behavior 22, 90–95 (1994). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199960
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199960