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Updated: Feb 28, 2026

A Procedure to Observe Context-induced Renewal of Pavlovian-conditioned Alcohol-seeking Behavior in Rats
Published on: September 19, 2014
Effects of extinction in multiple contexts on renewal of instrumental responses
Rodolfo Bernal-Gamboa1, Javier Nieto1, Metin Uengoer2
1Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico.
Abstract:
In two experiments with rats, we investigated the effects of using multiple contexts during extinction on renewal of lever-pressing behavior. During the first phase of both experiments, rats were reinforced to press a lever for food in Context A. Then, responses underwent extinction. For half of the animals, extinction sessions were conducted in a single context, whereas the other half received extinction in three different contexts. In Experiment 1, we observed that extinction in multiple contexts eliminated ABC renewal, but had no detectable impact on ABA renewal. Experiment 2 revealed that conducting extended extinction training in multiple contexts attenuated ABA renewal. Theoretical and clinical implications of the present findings are discussed.
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