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Blocking with a single compound trial

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Abstract

Three theories of classical conditioning were examined with regard to the earliest conditioning trial on which blocking could first occur. One theory (Rescorla & Wagner, 1972) predicts the occurrence of blocking on the first compound trial, whereas the other two (Mackintosh, 1975b; Pearce & Hall, 1980) predict that blocking will not occur until after the first compound trial. Using conditioned suppression of licking in water-deprived rats as a measure of associative strength, we found that substantial blocking of tone-footshock (X-US) associations occurred when a single light plus tone-footshock (AX-US) pairing followed 12 A-US pairings. The results are discussed in light of previous attempts to obtain one-trial blocking, and the implications of all of these studies for classical conditioning theory are considered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, State University of New York-Binghamton, Binghamton, New York, 13901, USA

    Mary Ann Balaz, Wesley J. Kasprow & Ralph R. Miller

Authors
  1. Mary Ann Balaz
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  2. Wesley J. Kasprow
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  3. Ralph R. Miller
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Additional information

This research was supported by NIMH Grant 33881 and NIH BRSG Grant S07RR07149-06. The experiments reported here are based on a master’s thesis submitted by the first author to the State University of New York at Binghamton in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the MA degree. Thanks are due to Stanley R. Scobie, Norman E. Spear, and Todd Schachtman for critically reading an earlier version of the manuscript.

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Balaz, M.A., Kasprow, W.J. & Miller, R.R. Blocking with a single compound trial. Animal Learning & Behavior 10, 271–276 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03405771

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03405771

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