Abstract
Contrasting predictions from Mackintosh and Turner’s (1971) selective attention account and Rescorla and Wagner’s (1972) nonselective account of unblocking were tested within a CER procedure employing UCS magnitude reduction. Magnitude of the UCS remained constant throughout all training stages for a blocking control group. The associative strength of a CS (light) introduced concurrently with UCS reduction was assessed in the third training stage. In that stage, reinforced presentations of tone (a “neutral” stimulus) were randomly intermingled with nonreinforced presentations of the tone-light compound. Rate of acquisition of inhibition to the compound did not differ significantly for the two groups, a result which was discussed in terms of Mackintosh’s (1975) revision of attention theory. Suppression to tone was significantly greater in the unblocking group than in the blocking control group, a result which calls into question the adequacy of CER designs in which shock intensity is varied.
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References
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This paper is sponsored by David R. Basden, who takes full editorial responsibility for its contents.
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Basden, B.H., Kleim, D.M. Unblocking as a function of shock reduction. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 8, 109–111 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335096
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335096