Resistance to discrimination and subsequent resistance to extinction as a function of the sequence of partial S+ reward in differential conditioning

Abstract

The effects of transitions from nonrewarded (N) to rewarded (R) trials (N-R transitions) on discriminative behavior in differential conditioning and subsequent resistance to extinction were investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, groups given N-R transitions within S+ were more resistant to discrimination (ran fast in S−) and extinction than were groups given a partial reinforcement (PRF) schedule in S+ devoid of N-R transitions. Experiment 2 indicated that N-R transitions that occur when an N trial in S− is followed by an R trial in S+ are as effective in increasing resistance to discrimination, but not resistance to extinction, as are N-R transitions that occur within S+. The sequential effects obtained here were highly similar to those in conventional PRF and support the view that differential conditioning and PRF are highly interrelated phenomena. The results are discussed in terms of the extension of sequential theory to differential conditioning and the importance of internal reward-produced cues in discrimination learning.