Abstract
The experiment examined the effects of three instructed response conditions upon the conditioned blocking of the occipital alpha rhythm: (1) response at light UCS onset, (2) response at light offset, and (3) no response. The results indicated that significant conditioning occurred under all three response conditions when compared to tone blocking habituation during unpaired pseudoconditioning. The major conclusions were that response to light onset facilitates conditioned reduction both early and late in conditioning and that making an overt response is not a necessary condition for demonstrating conditioned alpha reduction.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
ALBINO, A. R., & BURNAND, G. Conditioning of the alpha rhythm in man. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1964, 67, 539–544.
ESECOVER, H. B., TORRES, A. A., TAYLOR, R. M., WILKENS, B., & MALITZ, S. Contingent alpha blocking and sensitization. Nature, 1964, 201, 1247–1248.
GASTAUT, H., JUS, A., JUS, C., MORRELL, F., STORM van LEEUWEN, W., DONGIER, S., NAQUET, R., RÉGIS, H., ROGER, A., BEKKERING, D., KAMP, A., & WERRE, J. Étude topographique des réactions électroencéphalographiques conditionées chez l’homme. Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 1957, 9, 1–34.
JASPER, H., & SHAGASS, C. Conditioning in the occipital alpha rhythm in man. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1941, 28, 373–387.
KIMBLE, G. A. Hilgard and Marquis’ Conditioning and learning, (rev. ed.) New York: Appleton-Century, 1961.
KNOTT, J. R., & HENRY, C. E. The conditioning of the blocking of the alpha rhythm of the human electroencephalogram. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1941, 28, 134–144.
MILSTEIN, V. Contingent alpha blocking: Conditioning or sensitization. Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 1965, 18, 272–277.
MORROW, M. C., & KEOUGH, T. E. GSR conditioning with long interstimulus intervals. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1968, 77, 460–467.
PAGE, E. G. Ordered hypotheses for multiple treatments: A significance test for linear ranks. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 1963, 58, 216–230.
PUTNEY, R. T. A quantitative evaluation of conditioned blocking, enhancement, and inhibition of reinforcement of the alpha rhythm. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri, 1966.
SHAGASS, C. Conditioning the human occipital rhythm to a voluntary stimulus. A quantitative study. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1942, 31, 201–209.
SHAGASS, C., & JOHNSON, E. P. The course of acquisition of a conditioned response of the occipital alpha rhythm. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1943, 33, 367–379.
STERN, J. A., DAS, K. C., ANDERSON, J. M., BIDDY, R. L., & SURPHLIS, W. “Conditioned” alpha desynchromzation. Science, 1961, 134, 388–389.
TORRES, A. A. Sensitization and association in alpha blocking “conditioning.” Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology, 1968, 24, 297–306.
TRAVIS, L. E., & EGAN, J. P. Conditioning of the electrical response of the cortex. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1938, 22, 524–531.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Putney, R.T., Erwin, T.J. & Smith, S.T. The facilitation of conditioned alpha blocking with an overt response. Psychon Sci 26, 16–18 (1972). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337869
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03337869