Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2009):

Attentional and error-correcting associative mechanisms in classical conditioning.

Full Abstract

R. A. Rescorla (2000, Rescorla, 2001, Rescorla, 2002) reported that the associative changes undergone by 2 conditioned stimuli that are reinforced or not reinforced in compound depend on their initial associations. The results contradict the predictions of simple error-correction models but can be explained by models that incorporate a "constrained" error-correction rule. A model of classical conditioning presented by N. A. Schmajuk, Y. Lam, and J. A. Gray (1996) suggests that attentional mechanisms, acting during both compound training and testing, have an important role in producing those results. Moreover, the model suggests that those attentional mechanisms might obscure the evaluation of the associative changes undergone by the conditioned stimuli during compound training. Two experiments that differentiate our model from competing theories are proposed.

Author information

Author/s: Schmajuk, Nestor (N);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA. nestor(-atsign-)duke.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes (J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jul; vol 35 (issue 3) : pp 407-18

Dates: Created 2009/07/14; Completed 2009/09/17;

PMID: 19594285, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/17/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 1996 Jul;22(3):321-49. (PMID: 8691162)

CommentOn: J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 2002 Apr;28(2):163-74. (PMID: 11987873)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals Association Learning Attention Computer Simulation Conditioning, Classical Discrimination Learning

Discrimination Learning Inhibition (Psychology) Models, Psychological Neural Networks (Computer) Rats Reinforcement Schedule

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