Biasing the development of response topography with nonspecific positive and negative evocative verbal stimuli.

Abstract

Conditioned response (CR) rate and development of CR latency, rise time, and airpuff attenuation were examined for V- and C-form responders using two nonspecific command words, do and don't, as conditioned stimuli (CSs) in single-cue, double-cue, and differential eyelid conditioning. In both single-cue and differential conditioning, regardless of the command word used to signal the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the Vs produced a higher response rate and learned a better UCS-attenuating response topography than the Cs. However, in a double-cue conditioning paradigm in which both command words were presented alone on different trials and reinforced, response latency was longer and puff attenuation poorer among Vs than when the UCS was signaled by a unique cue. In contrast, adding a second reinforced cue actually enhanced the development of puff-avoidant CR topographies among Cs compared to single-cue conditioning. These results and others indicate that response topography development is to some extent a labile process that can be biased toward either good or poor puff-avoidant properties and that the factors responsible for influencing CR topography differ for Vs and Cs.