Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Trace Fear Conditioning in Mice
Published on: March 20, 2014
Timing during inhibitory conditioning
Douglas A Williams1, Kenneth W Johns, Mirna Brindas
1Psychology Department, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. d.williams@uwinnipeg.ca
Abstract:
Analyses of second-by-second conditioned responding into a food receptacle by hungry rats (Rattus norvegicus) found that inhibition varies across the duration of a conditioned stimulus (CS) in a manner consistent with initial training. Variations in the arrival time of the unconditioned stimulus (US) supported temporally specific suppression of responding (Experiment 1). Summation and retardation tests (Experiments 2 and 3, respectively) revealed that points of greatest inhibition coincided with US omission at the time normally specified by the excitor. Our data provide a clear demonstration of fine-grained changes in the time course of inhibitory conditioning for the first time.
Related Concept Videos
Feedback Inhibition
Timing and Consequences on Behavior
Humans, however, can respond to delayed reinforcers. We often make decisions between immediate small rewards and delayed larger rewards. This ability to delay gratification is a significant factor...
Long-term Potentiation
Long-term Potentiation
Hebbian LTP
LTP can occur when presynaptic neurons...
Principles of Classical Conditioning
During the...
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov observed that dogs salivated...

