Summation: further assessment of a configural theory

Pearce, John M.; George, David N.; Aydin, Aydan

Abstract

Rats received Pavlovian conditioning in which food was signalled by a visual stimulus, A+, an auditory stimulus, B+, and a compound composed of different visual and auditory stimuli, CD+. Test trials were then given with the compound AB. Experiments 1 and 2A revealed stronger responding during AB than during CD. In Experiment 2B, there was no evidence of a summation of responding during AB when A+ B+ training was conducted in the absence of CD+ trials. A further failure to observe abnormally strong responding during AB was found in Experiment 3 for which the training trials with A+ B+ CD+ were accompanied by trials in which C and D were separately paired with food. The results are explained in terms of a configural theory of conditioning, which assumes that responding during a compound is determined by generalization from its components, as well as from other compounds to which it is similar.

Citation

Pearce, J. M., George, D. N., & Aydin, A. (2002). Summation: further assessment of a configural theory. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section B. Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55(1b), 61-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724990143000171

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2002
• Journal: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY SECTION B-COMPARATIVE AND PHYS
• Print ISSN: 0272-4995
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-1321
• Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 1b
• Pages: 61-73
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724990143000171
• Keywords: Discrimination; Stimulus; Pavlovian conditioning
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/405259
• Publisher URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/02724990143000171