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Reversibility of single-incentive selective associations
1Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC 20016.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior
|July 1, 1993
Summary
The study found that the recent reinforcement history of a stimulus, not its inherent properties, determined whether rats associated it with auditory or visual cues. This challenges existing theories of selective associations.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Psychology
- Animal Learning
- Associative Learning
Background:
- Selective association is the tendency to associate certain stimuli with certain outcomes.
- Existing theories propose that stimulus-reinforcer interactions, based on inherent stimulus properties (e.g., auditory-shock, visual-food), drive these associations.
- The role of reinforcement contingencies in shaping selective associations requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the recent reinforcement history or inherent stimulus properties determine selective associations.
- To examine the reversibility of selective associations in appetitive and aversive conditioning paradigms.
- To challenge current accounts of selective associations based on stimulus-reinforcer affinities.
Main Methods:
- Rats were trained to respond to a tone-light compound stimulus using differential reinforcement schedules.
- Experiment 1: Compound served as a conditioned reinforcer (food) or punisher (shock termination).
- Experiment 2: Compound signaled safety from shock or signaled shock presentation.
- Stimulus control was assessed by presenting tone and light separately after training.
- Within-subject reversals of training schedules were also conducted.
Main Results:
- In appetitive conditioning, visual stimuli gained more control when the compound was a reinforcer, while auditory stimuli gained control when it was a punisher.
- In aversive conditioning, auditory stimuli gained control when the compound signaled safety, and visual stimuli gained control when it signaled shock.
- These stimulus control patterns were reversible when training schedules were switched.
- The observed effects contradicted predictions based on stimulus-reinforcer interaction theories.
Conclusions:
- The recent contingencies of reinforcement associated with a stimulus, rather than its sensory modality or the nature of the reinforcer, determine selective associations.
- Selective associations are highly flexible and reversible, dictated by the most recent learning history.
- This study provides evidence against traditional stimulus-reinforcer interaction accounts and supports a contingency-based explanation of selective associations.
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