Abstract
The present experiment examined the effects of stimulus compounding of two appetitively and eparately pretrained conditioned stimuli (CSs) in which each CS (light and tone) evoked a dissimilar conditioned response (CR). In Phase 1, all rats received classical conditioning to the light and tone as separate stimulus elements. In Phase 2, one group received these two stimuli as a single reinforced compound stimulus and a control group continued to receive the stimuli rein forced separately. All subjects were then tested for responding to the single stimulus elements. In contrast to the predictions of current models of classical conditioning, it was found that compound conditioning of separately pretrained stimuli resulted in an increase in responding to the light, although there was a tendency toward a decrease in responding to the tone. Therefore, the rules governing the stimulus compounding of CSs with dissimilar CRs may be different from those governing CSs that evoke CRs with a similar response topography.
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I wish to thank Lynn J. Hammond, to whom I owe a great debt for making this research possible. I also thank Joshua E. Blustein, for his critical reading of an earlier version of this manuscript and for statistical assistance, and Todd R. Schachtman, for his encouragement and for reading a preliminary draft.
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Bourne, M.J. Compound conditioning of separately pretrained conditioned stimuli evoking dissimilar conditioned responses. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 28, 451–454 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334065
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334065