Abstract
Gray and Lethbridge (1976) have reported a demonstration of configural conditioning in the CER in rats. With repeated reinforcement of a compound CS, suppression to the elements diminished considerably, while suppression to the compound remained substantially intact. The basic form of the Gray and Lethbridge findings has been replicated in the present study. We observed, however, that suppression to the compound itself diminished with repeated reinforcement of the compound. Further, we also tested the compound after deliberate extinction of the elements. This test of the excitatory effect of the “configurai cue” indicated that it also had diminished with repeated reinforcement of the compound. The observed greater suppression to the compound than to the elements can be parsimoniously interpreted as a simple summation effect, and the attenuation of suppression with repeated reinforcement is common in CER studies. Thus, the data require no appeal to configural conditioning.
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This research was supported by Grant MH 16599 from the National Institute of Mental Health, United States Public Health Service.
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Kamin, L.J., Idrobo, F. Configural conditioning in the CER: A possible artifact. Animal Learning & Behavior 6, 290–293 (1978). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209616
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03209616