Single-Alternation Patterning with Sucrose Reinforcement and Varied Intertrial Intervals in the Rat

Four groups of rats were given single-alternation training in a runway using sucrose reward and then extinguished. Only subjects given training with a short interval (10 sec.) between rewarded and nonrewarded trials and a long interval (40 min.) between nonrewarded and rewarded trials learned patterned responding. This duplicated the results found in classical conditioning with a similar manipulation. The acquisition and extinction data led to the conclusion that intertrial interval cues can be made more important than aftereffects in producing patterning with sucrose reinforcement.

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Response Patterning in the Operant-Conditioning Situation with Twenty-Four-Hour Intertrial Interval

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1974.38.1.231 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 231-234

Author(s):

Stephen F. Davis ◽

Bobby R. Brown

Keyword(s):

Operant Conditioning ◽

Intertrial Interval ◽

Albino Rats ◽

Operant Conditioning Chamber ◽

Single Alternation ◽

Conditioning Chamber ◽

Conditioning Situation ◽

Double Alternation ◽

Sequential Hypothesis ◽

Response Patterning

16 female, albino rats served as Ss in an investigation of performance on single and double-alternation sequences of reward-nonreward. Ss were run in an operant conditioning chamber with a 24-hr. intenrial interval. The results indicated that Ss receiving the single-alternation reward-nonreward sequence learned to respond appropriately, i.e., fast on reward days, slow on nonreward days, while Ss run under the double-alternation sequence did not exhibit appropriate responding. The results are seen as being supportive of Capaldi's sequential hypothesis.

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Single-alternation performance in rats with hippocampal lesions: Disruption by an irrelevant task interposed during the intertrial interval

Behavioral Biology ◽

10.1016/s0091-6773(73)80172-5 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 93-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Don W. Walker ◽

Larry W. Means

Keyword(s):

Intertrial Interval ◽

Single Alternation ◽

Hippocampal Lesions

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The effect of temporal single alternation on learned increases in hippocampal unit activity in classical conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response

Physiological Psychology ◽

10.3758/bf03326655 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 345-351 ◽

Cited By ~ 77

Author(s):

Fred K. Hoehler ◽

Richard F. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Classical Conditioning ◽

Unit Activity ◽

Single Alternation ◽

Nictitating Membrane ◽

Nictitating Membrane Response

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Conditional responding and intertrial-interval variability in classical conditioning in the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology ◽

10.1037/h0036578 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 73-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Daniel S. Mitchell

Keyword(s):

Classical Conditioning ◽

Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽

Intertrial Interval

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No evidence for olfactory blocking in honeybee classical conditioning

Journal of Experimental Biology ◽

10.1242/jeb.202.13.1839 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 202 (13) ◽

pp. 1839-1854 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

B. Gerber ◽

J. Ullrich

Keyword(s):

Experimental Design ◽

Classical Conditioning ◽

Convincing Evidence ◽

Olfactory Learning ◽

Sucrose Reward ◽

Confounding Variables

We use binary odorant compounds to investigate ‘blocking’ in honeybees which learn to associate an odorant (A-D) with a sucrose reward as the reinforcer (+). ‘Blocking’ means that learning about a stimulus B is reduced when trained in compound with a stimulus A that has previously been trained alone. Thus, reinforcement of B in these circumstances is not sufficient to induce learning. Such blocking is a frequently observed phenomenon in vertebrate learning and has also recently been reported in honeybee olfactory learning. To explain blocking, current models of conditioning include cognition-like concepts of attention or expectation which, consequently, seem also to apply to honeybees. Here, we first reproduce a blocking-like effect in an experimental design taken from the literature. We identify two confounding variables in that design and experimentally demonstrate their potential to support a blocking-like effect. After eliminating these confounding variables using a series of different training procedures, the blocking-like effect disappeared. Thus, convincing evidence for blocking in honeybee classical conditioning is at present lacking. This casts doubt on the applicability of cognition-like concepts to honeybees.

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