Second-order retrospective revaluation in human contingency learning

Abstract

We demonstrated second-order retrospective revaluation with three cues (T1, T2, and C) and an outcome, in human contingency learning. Experimental task, PC-controlled video game in which participants were required to observe about the relations between firing missiles and the tank destruction, consisted of three training phases and two rating phases. Groups C+ and C- consisted of same first two training phases, CT+ (cues C and T with an outcome) and T1T2+ followed by C+, or C- training for Groups C+, C-, respectively. In rating phases, it is clearly demonstrated that the judgment of predictive value for the outcome of the T2 were higher by C+ training (second-order unovershadowing) and lowered by C- training (second-order backward blocking). The results for Groups RC+ and RC-, in which the orders of the first two training phase for Groups C+ and C- were interchanged, also showed second-order unovershadowing and second-order backward blocking. These results, the robustness of second-order retrospective revaluation against the order of the first training phases, can be explained by the extended comparator hypothesis and probabilistic contrast model. However, these results cannot be explained by traditional associative learning models.