The Effect of Contextual Stimuli on Operant Behaviors
The training and extinction of learned responses may be associated with the contextual stimuli present. The possible effects of contextual stimuli have been observed in classical and operant conditioning through the processes of extinction and renewal. Though extinction involves the weakening of a learned response it does not unlearn the response. The association between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) may still be present and only seem to be lost due to other forms of imposed learning. Despite the association surviving extinction, there is the question of why the conditioned response (CR) is lost through the extinction process. Several studies have been performed in order to assess the extinction process and its effects on the renewal of learned responses. Pavlov (1927, as cited in Bouton & Bolles, 1979) believed that the loss of the CR was due to inhibition produced in the extinction process. Wagner and Rescorla (1972, as cited in Bouton & Bolles, 1979) proposed an alternate explanation stating that the strength of the CR was dependent on two associations. According to the Rescorla-Wagner Model, the CS-US association is combined with the association of contextual stimuli and the US. This expl
Day four was a 45 minute session involving extinction of the lever-press response. Group Same consisted of 5 rats (3 rats that had the light on during training and 2 rats that had the light off during training). Group Diff consisted of 6 rats (3 rats that had the light on during training and 3 rats that had the light off during training). Group Same was extinguished in the same context where they had been trained. Group Diff was extinguished in a different context from their training context. The rat was placed in the Skinner box, and its group determined whether or not the light stimulus was on. The rat pressed the lever and no food pellets were dispensed into the food magazine. After the session the rat was put back into its cage and the experimenters recorded the amount of lever-presses that occurred in 5 minute intervals. The dependent variable measured was the number of lever presses recorded in the presence of contextual stimuli (the presence or absence of the light in the Skinner box). To analyze the data, 3 two-tailed independent t- tests were conducted to confirm expectations. The first t-test involved comparing Group Same to Group Diff during the training session. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the groups, t(9)= The experiment was conducted over a period of five consecutive days. All parts of the experiment took place at designated times in the afternoon. One Skinner box apparatus was assigned to each experimenter group for the duration of the project. There were three main objectives to the experiment – training, extinction, and recovery. The main objective for the first three days was training. On the first day, the rats were put into two groups in which they remained for three days. Group one consisted of six rats that were trained with the Skinner box light on and group two consisted of five rats that were trained with the Skinner box light off.
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Approximate Word count = 2087
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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