Abstract
If classically predifferentiated supplementary feedback cues promote psychomotor learning through the operation of conditional properties, as prior studies have suggested, one should be able to nullify such effects by conventional extinction procedures. The present study examined this implication. After preliminary tracking practice under common conditions, 88 Ss were assigned in equal numbers to (l)aversive differentiation of to-become supplementary error (CS+) and targeting (CS−) cues, (2) differentiation followed immediately by extinction trials, (3) CS-only controls, and (4) neutral controls. Subsequently, all groups tracked under common conditions of cue availability and withdrawal. Once again, predifferentiation transformed otherwise ineffective cues into significant learning supports. Contrary to expectation, however, extinction trials failed to nullify their effects on performance. This failure was rationalized in terms of the known resistance of aversive CRs to extinction and/or possible reconditioning of the cues during the tracking trials.
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This paper is based upon a thesis submitted by the junior author in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MS degree at the University of Georgia.
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Payne, R.B., Richardson, E.T. Control of supplementary feedback cue properties by differentiation and extinction procedures. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 4, 100–102 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334209
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334209