Abstract
Two experiments examined the effects of preexposure to a stimulus on the subsequent acquisition of conditioned suppression by rats. Variations in the level of suppression within conditioning trials were noted so thatinhibition of delay (taken here to mean less suppression at the beginning of a trial than at the end) could be detected. Inhibition of delay was observed both during the acquisition of suppression and (in Experiment 1) when suppression began to wane with continued postasymptotic training. Preexposure to the to-be-conditioned stimulus retarded acquisition of suppression and slowed the appearance of inhibition of delay both in acquisition and (in Experiment 1) in postasymptotic performance. Experiment 2 demonstrated that inhibition of delay was attenuated during conditioning that followed preexposure in which the stimulus was paired with a weak reinforcer. These results provide no support for the suggestion that preexposure to a stimulus retards later conditioning because it allows the subject to acquire information about stimulus duration that in turn fosters the development of inhibition of delay. Rather, they are compatible with the suggestion that preexposure causes the stimulus to lose associability.
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Support for this research was provided by a grant from the UK Science and Engineering Research Council to Geoffrey Hall.
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Schachtman, T.R., Channell, S. & Hall, G. Effects of CS preexposure on inhibition of delay. Animal Learning & Behavior 15, 301–311 (1987). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205023
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205023