Abstract
Blocking and unblocking groups were trained in Phase 1 on an instrumental discrimination task in which internal cues were relevant and brightness cues were irrelevant. Both groups received large reward in S+ and small reward (S) in S− in Phase 1. In Phase 2, brightness cues and internal cues were simultaneously and equally relevant for all groups. Group Blocking continued to receive S on S− trials in Phase 2, and learning about brightness was substantially reduced relative to that of appropriate control groups. Group Unblocking experienced a shift from S to nonreward (N) in S− at the beginning of Phase 2 and learned as much about brightness as did the control groups.
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This experiment was supported by an Arkansas State University faculty research grant to the author.
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Haggbloom, S.J. Unblocking in a runway discrimination problem: The effects of a surprising shift from small reward to nonreward in S— relative to small reward throughout training. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 22, 568–570 (1984). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333910
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333910