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A fundamental role for context in instrumental learning and extinction
Mark E Bouton1, Travis P Todd1
1University of Vermont, United States.
Behavioural Processes
|March 1, 2014
Summary
Context significantly influences operant learning and extinction. Changing the learning environment after training or extinction can disrupt behavior, highlighting context-specific learning and inhibitory associations.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Learning and Memory
Background:
- Instrumental (operant) learning involves behaviors influenced by reinforcement.
- Instrumental extinction occurs when reinforcement for a behavior is withdrawn, leading to a decline in response strength.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review research on how context changes affect instrumental learning and extinction.
- To examine the role of context in both the acquisition and extinction phases of operant behavior.
Main Methods:
- Review of studies investigating context change effects on instrumental extinction.
- Analysis of experiments examining context control over instrumental behavior before extinction.
- Examination of renewal effects (ABA, ABC, AAB) in operant conditioning and extinction.
Main Results:
- Instrumental extinction is context-specific, with renewal effects observed after context shifts.
- Context switches after training can decrease response strength, suggesting context-response associations.
- Organisms may learn direct context-response associations or hierarchical representations.
Conclusions:
- Context plays a crucial role in both the acquisition and extinction of operant behaviors.
- Extinction is demonstrably more context-specific than conditioning.
- Inhibitory context-response associations are formed during extinction learning.
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