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 responses. 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. T
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)=
Day three was a 45 minute session. The food pellet administration switch was put on ‘series’. The rat was put into the Skinner box. The schedule of reinforcement was fixed ratio 2. The experimenters recorded the total number of lever-press responses that occurred in 5 minute intervals. After the session the rat was taken out of the Skinner box and put back in its cage. The experimenters turned in the recorded data to their professor.
Example Essays Home
