Temporal encoding as a determinant of overshadowing

Three conditioned lick suppression experiments explored the effects on overshadowing of the temporal relationships of two conditioned stimuli (CSs) with an unconditioned stimulus (US). Assuming overshadowing is maximal when the potential information conveyed by two competing CSs is equivalent, the temporal coding hypothesis predicts that greater overshadowing will be observed when the CSs share the same temporal relationship with the US. Rats were exposed to an overshadowing CS that had either a forward, simultaneous, or backward relationship to the US. The relationship of the overshadowed CSs to the US was either forward (Experiment 1), simultaneous (Experiment 2), or backward (Experiment 3). The greatest amount of overshadowing was observed when both CSs had the same temporal relationship to the US. The data are discussed within the framework of the temporal coding hypothesis and of alternative models of Pavlovian conditioning based on the informational hypothesis.