Classical conditioning of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response to CS compounds: Effects of prior single-stimulus conditioning

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of prior single-stimulus training on classical conditioning to a compound and its components and subsequent component extinction of the rabbit’s nictitating membrane response. Experiments 1 and 2 found that prior single-stimulus training interfered with acquisition of responding to a second stimulus during compound conditioning and retarded responding to the second stimulus during extinction. Moreover, Experiment 2 revealed that the interference effects of prior single-stimulus training on response acquisition to a second stimulus were attenuated by the addition of concurrent training trials to the second stimulus. The results are discussed in terms of theories of stimulus selection.