Background Stimuli and the Inter-Stimulus Interval during Pavlovian Conditioning
Abstract
An experiment was carried out to investigate the part played by background stimuli during Pavlovian conditioning. Groups of rats were presented with tone CSs and unavoidable footshock USs. Two components of the inter-stimulus interval, namely CS duration and the duration of a trace interval, were manipulated across groups. Subsequently subjects were tested for their reactions to background stimuli by being re-exposed to the training environment in the absence of both the CS and US. The degree to which rats failed to avoid this environment was found to relate to CS duration by an inverted U curve. The manipulation of the trace interval however did not significantly affect avoidance.
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A cue paired with a US becomes the best predictor and overshadows the context, leading to little context conditioning; when CS and US are unpaired, the context becomes the only predictor, leading to increased context conditioning.
“A cue paired with a US becomes the best predictor of the US. The cue overshadows the context, which then elicits little context conditioning (Rescorla and Wagner, 1972). In contrast, when the CS and US are not paired, the context becomes the only predictor of the US, although a poor one, leading to increased context conditioning (Odling-Smee, 1975a, b; Rescorla and Wagner, 1972).”
From Phasic vs Sustained Fear in Rats and Humans: Role of the Extended Amygdala in Fear vs Anxiety (2010) · cites this paper as Odling-Smee, 1975a
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- Authors
- Odling-Smee, F. J.
- Affiliations
- Brunel University of London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Odling-Smee, F. J.
- Venue
- Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1975-08
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 387-392
- ISSN
- 0033-555X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2042541098
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 0.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Keywords
- classical conditioning, interstimulus interval, trace interval, avoidance, rats
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Avoidance Learning, Conditioning, Classical, Electroshock, Environment, Time Factors, Rats
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