Abstract
Ontogenetic differences in processing light-tone compounds were discovered in preweanling (17-day-old) and adult (60–80-day-old) rats. Suppression of general activity was used as an index of the magnitude of conditioned fear following a single training session in which a CS+ was paired with mild footshock. In Experiment 1, rats were trained on discriminations in which the CS− consisted of a light and the CS+ was either a tone alone (simple discrimination) or a light-tone compound (simultaneous feature-positive discrimination). Adults and preweanlings given each type of discrimination were then tested for fear of the CS− and a target stimulus (tone alone or light-tone compound). Adults in all groups displayed greater fear of the target than of the CS−. Preweanlings, however, discriminated the CS− from the target only when the target was the same as the original CS+. Experiment 2 revealed that age-related differences in conventional stimulus generalization is not a likely explanation for the pattern of results found in Experiment 1. Experiment 3 revealed age-related differences in expressed fear of a serial feature-positive discrimination; adults, but not preweanlings, showed greater fear of the compound than of the CS−. Alternative interpretations of the results from these experiments are discussed, and the general conclusion is that adults appear more inclined to process elements of a compound stimulus selectively, whereas preweanlings seem more likely to process the compound unselectively, with roughly equivalent processing of each element.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Amsel, A. (1979). The ontogeny of appetitive learning and persistence in the rat. In N. Spear & B. Campbell (Eds.),Ontogeny of learning and memory (pp. 189–224). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Amsel, A. (1986). Developmental psychobiology and behavior theory: Reciprocating influences.Canadian Journal of Psychology,640, 311–342.
Bachevalier, J., &Mishkin, M. (1984). An early and a late developing system for learning and retention in infant monkeys.Behavioral Neuroscience,98, 770–778.
Bolles, R. C. (1970). Species specific defense reactions and avoidance behavior.Psychological Review,71, 32–48.
Campbell, B. A. (1967). Developmental studies of learning and motivation in infraprimate mammals. In H. Stevenson, E. Hess, & H. Rheingold (Eds.),Early behavior: Comparative and developmental approaches (pp. 43–72). New York: Wiley.
Campbell, B. A., &Coulter, X. (1976). Ontogeny of learning and memory. In M. R. Rosenzweig (Ed.),Neural mechanisms of learning and memory (pp. 209–235). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Campbell, B. A., &Haroutunian, V. (1983). Perceptual sharpening in the developing rat.Journal of Comparative Psychology,97, 3–11.
Campbell, B.A., &Spear, N. E. (1972). Ontogeny of memory.Psychological Review,79, 215–236.
Coulter, X. (1979). The determinants of infantile amnesia. In N. E. Spear & B. A. Campbell (Eds.),Ontogeny of learning and memory (pp. 245–270). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Frieman, J., Warner, J., &Riccio, D. C. (1970). Age differences in conditioning and generalization of fear in young and adult rats.Developmental Psychology,3, 119–123.
Garner, W. R. (1970). The stimulus in information processing.American Psychologist,25, 350–358.
Gordon, W. C. (1979). Age: Is it a constraint on memory content? In N. E. Spear & B. A. Campbell (Eds.),Ontogeny of learning and memory (pp. 271–287). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Hinderliter, C., &Misanin, J. (1988). Weanling and senescent rats process simultaneously presented odor and taste differently than young adults.Behavioral & Neural Biology,49, 112–117.
Holland, P. C. (1985). The nature of conditioned inhibition in serial and simultaneous feature negative discriminations. In R. Miller & N. Spear (Eds.),Information processing in animals: Conditioned inhibition (pp. 267–297). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kail, R., &Spear, N. E. (1984).Comparative perspectives on the development of memory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kehoe, E. J. (1982). Overshadowing and summation in compound conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,8, 313–328.
Kehoe, E. J. (1986). Summation and configuration in conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response to compound stimuli.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,12, 186–195.
Kehoe, E. J. (1988). A layered network model of associative learning: Learning to learn and configuration.Psychological Review,95, 411–433.
Kehoe, E. J., &Gormezano, I. (1980). Configuration and combination laws in conditioning of compound stimuli.Psychological Bulletin,87, 351–378.
Kehoe, E. J., &Grahm, P. (1988). Summation and configuration: Stimulus compounding and negative patterning in the rabbit.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,14, 320–333.
Keppel, G. (1982).Design and analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Kucharski, D., &Spear, N. E. (1985). Potentiation and overshadowing in preweanling and adult rats.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes,11, 15–34.
Move, T. B., &Rudy, J. W. (1985). Ontogenesis of learning. VI: Learned and unlearned responses to visual stimulation in the infant hooded rat.Developmental Psychobiology,18, 395–409.
Nadel, L., &Zola-Morgan, S. (1984). Infantile amnesia: A neurobiological perspective. In M. Moscovitch (Ed.),Infant memory (pp. 145–172). New York: Plenum.
Pearce, J. M. (1987). A model for stimulus generalization in Pavlovian conditioning.Psychological Review,94, 61–73.
Rudy, J. W., &Hyson, R. L. (1984). Ontogenesis of learning: III. Variation in the rat’s differential reflexive and learned responses to sound frequencies.Developmental Psychobiology,17, 285–300.
Rudy, J. W., Vogt, M. B., &Hyson, R. L. (1984). A developmental analysis of the rat’s learned reactions to gustatory and auditory stimulation. In R. Kail & N. Spear (Eds.),Comparative perspectives on the development of memory [pp. 181–208). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Shepp, B. E. (1983). The analyzability of multidimensional objects: Some constraints on perceived structure, the development of perceived structure, and attention. In T. J. Tighe & B. E. Shepp (Eds),Perception, cognition, and development: Interactional analysis (pp. 39–76). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear, N. E. (1973). Retrieval of memory in animals.Psychological Review,80, 163–175.
Spear, N. E. (1978).The processing of memories: Forgetting and retention. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear, N. E. (1979). Memory storage factors in infantile amnesia. In G. Bower (Ed.),The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 13, pp. 91–154). New York: Academic Press.
Spear, N. E. (1981). Extending the domain of memory retrieval. In N. Spear & R. Miller (Eds.),Information processing in animals: Memory mechanisms (pp. 341–378). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear, N. E. (1984). Ecologically-determined dispositions control the ontogeny of learning and memory. In R. Kail & N. E. Spear (Eds.),Comparative perspectives on the development of memory (pp. 325–358). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear, N. E., &Campbell, B. A. (1979).Ontogeny of learning and memory. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear, N. E., Kraemer, P. J., Molina, J. C., &Smoller, D. E. (1988). Developmental change in learning and memory: Infantile disposition for unitization. In J. Delacour & C. S. Levy (Eds.),Systems with learning and memory abilities (pp. 27–52). Amsterdam: Elsevier/ North-Holland.
Spear, N. E., &Kucharski, D. (1984a). Ontogenetic differences in the processing of multi-element stimuli: Potentiation and overshadowing. In H. Roitblat, T. Bever, & H. Terrace (Eds),Animal cognition (pp. 545–567). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear, N. E., &Kucharski, D. (1984b). The ontogeny of stimulus selection: Developmental differences in what is learned. In R. Kail & N. Spear (Eds.),Comparative perspectives on the development of memory (pp. 227–252). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Spear, N. E., &Molina, J. C. (1987). The role of sensory modality in the ontogeny of stimulus selection. In N. Krasnegor, E. Blass, M. Hofer, & W. Smotherman (Eds.),Perinatal development: A psychobiological perspective (pp. 83–110). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Turkewitz, G., Gardner, J. M., &Lewkowicz, D. J. (1984). Sensory/perceptual functioning during early infancy: The implications of a quantitative basis for responding. In G. Greenberg & E. Tobach (Eds.),Behavioral evolution and integrative levels (pp. 167–195). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Turkewitz, G., &Mellon, R. (1989). Dynamic organization of intersensory function.Canadian Journal of Psychology,43, 286–301.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The present research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (1 RO3 MH42992 to P. J. Kraemer and 1 RO1 MH35219 to N. E. Spear).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kraemer, P.J., Spear, N.E. Preweanling and adult rats treat conditioned light-tone combinations differently. Animal Learning & Behavior 18, 113–123 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205248
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03205248