Abstract
A study was conducted to determine the effects of 1, 5, 10, and 50 conditioning trials per session on classical conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response. It was found that single-trial sessions produced more rapid increases in CR frequence across trials and required fewer trials to attain criterial performance than multiple-trial sessions. The finding of a superiority of single-trial sessions on CR acquisition was discussed with regard to traditional accounts of trial distribution effects on learning (i.e., reactive inhibition, stimulus sampling, and consolidation hypothesis), as well as with regard to stimulus variability accounts. Moreover, consideration was given to the issue of retention as it bears upon time-dependent acquisition processes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Brimer, C. J., & Dockrill, F. J. Partial reinforcement and the CER. Psychonomic Science, 1966, 5, 185–186.
Coleman, S. R., & Gormezano, I. Classical conditioning of the rabbit’s (Oryctolagus Cuniculus) nictitating membrane response under symmetrical CS-US interval shifts. Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology, 1971, 77, 447–455.
Estes, W. K. Statistical theory of distributional phenomena in learning. Psychological Review, 1955, 62, 369–377.
Gleitman, H. Forgetting of long-term memories in animals. In W. K. Honig and P. H. R. James (Eds.), Animal Memory. New York: Academic Press, 1971.
Glickman, S. E. Perseverative neural processes and consolidation of the memory trace.Psychological Bulletin. 1961, 58, 218–223.
Gormezano, I. Classical conditioning. In J. B. Sidowski (Ed.), Experimental methods and instrumentation in psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966.
Gormezano, I., & Moore, J. W. Classical conditioning. In M. H. Marx (Ed.), Learning: Processes. Toronto: Macmillian, 1969.
Gormezano, I., Schneiderman, N., Deaux, E., & Fuentes, I. Nictitating membraine: Classical conditioning and extinction in the albino rabbit. Science, 1962, 138, 33–34.
Holland, G. A. Simple trial-and-error learning: Massed and distributed trials with habits of unequal initial strength. Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology, 1953a, 46, 90–94.
Holland, G. A. The effects of a change from distributed to massed responses. Journal of Comparative & Physiological Psychology, 1953b, 46, 267–270.
Hull, C. L. Principles of behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1943.
Hull, C. L. A behavior system. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1952.
Levinthal, C. F. The CS-US interval function in rabbit nictitating membrane response conditioning: Single vs multiple trials per conditioning session. Learning & Motivation, 1973, 4, 259–267.
Peterson, L. R., & Peterson, M. J. Short-term retention of individual verbal items. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1959, 58, 193–198.
Rothkopf, E. Z. Distribution of practice and the temporal decay of responseproduced stimuli. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1955, 49, 33–38.
Voeks, V. W. Formalization and clarification of a theory of learning. The Journal of Psychology, 1950, 30, 341–362.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by Grant GB-45131 from the National Science Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kehoe, E.J., Gormezano, I. Effects of trials per session on conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 4, 434–436 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336746
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03336746