Stimulus generalization decrement in latent inhibition to a compound following exposure to the elements or the compound

Abstract

In two experiments using the taste-aversion paradigm, we attempted to replicate a result reported by Holland and Forbes (1980), in which exposure to the elements of a compound produced more interference with future conditioning (latent inhibition) to the compound than did exposure to the compound itself. In our first experiment, a compound of HC1 and sucrose was used and the amount of fluid consumed during exposure and the first conditioning trial was controlled. Rather than finding enhanced interference produced by exposure to the elements, we found reduced interference relative to exposure to the compound. In Experiment 2, a compound of NaCl and sucrose was used and a method similar to that used by Holland and Forbes was employed. We replicated the result of our Experiment 1. We interpret these results as posing problems for some associative accounts of latent inhibition but as being easily explained as an instance of stimulus generalization decrement.