Conditions for learning


1.  How do the CS pre-exposure (sometimes called "latent inhibition") and US pre-exposure effects illustrate the importance of stimulus novelty for Pavlovian 
conditioning?


2.
  What effects do CS intensity and US intensity have on the learning curve?


3.  Describe the interstimulus interval function, and the sorts of conditioning procedures used to generate it.  What does the function suggest about the 
importance of temporal contiguity for learning to occur?

4.  What is the main conclusion to be drawn from Kaplan's experiment?  Also be able to describe his procedures and results.

5.  What is meant by spatial contiguity and what is its effect on learning?


6.  Describe Rescorla's contingency experiment.  What implication does this experiment have for the importance of temporal 
contiguity as a determiner of learning?


7.  Describe Kamin's blocking experiment (procedure, results, conclusion).  What implication does this experiment have for the importance of temporal 
contiguity?  for contingency?

8.  Why was the experiment of Wagner, Logan, Haberlandt, and Price (1968) important?  What does it demonstrate?

9.  What additional feature of the learning system was discussed by Garcia and Koelling? Explain.

Theoretical Models of Pavlovian Conditioning

1.  What are the basic concepts in the Rescorla-Wagner model?

2.  When does learning stop according to the Rescorla-Wagner model?


3.  According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, what are the effects of CS intensity and US intensity?

4.  In the Rescorla-Wagner model, what produces extinction?

5.  In the Rescorla-Wagner model, why does blocking occur?  why is learning reduced when the CS-US contingency is degraded? and what about the US preexposure effect?

6.  According to the Rescorla-Wagner model, what are the final associative strengths to each of the stimuli in the Pavlovian conditioned inhibition procedure?

7.  What is the overexpectation effect and how does it arise from the Rescorla-Wagner model?


8.  What does the Rescorla-Wagner model say should happen when you nonreinforce an inhibitor with a neutral stimulus?

9.  Why does the model have difficulty explaining Latent Inhibition?


10.  
Explain how Garcia & Koelling's observation of CS-US relevance poses a problem to the Rescorla-Wagner model.

What is learned during Pavlovian Conditioning

1.  Describe the two possible associative structures that can characterise what is learned.


2.  What appears to be learned during sensory preconditioning?

3.  What appears to be learned during 1st order Pavlovian excitatory conditioning?  Be prepared to explain the Holland & Rescorla (1975) experiment.

4.  What appears to be learned during 2nd order Pavlovian excitatory conditioning?  Discuss the Holland & Rescorla (1975) experiment.

5.  Describe the Henderson et al (1980) study.  How does it illustrate that sensory and emotional characteristics of the US are learned about during Pavlovian conditioning?

6.  Describe how binary and hierarchical associative structures explain feature positive occasion setting.


Pavlovian Conditioning:  Determinants of Performance

1.  What 3 important factors have been shown to influence the form of the conditioned response?


2.  What is Pavlov's stimulus substitution theory?  Describe how the Jenkins and Moore (1973) study is relevant.

3. How can drug tolerance be explained by thinking about bidirectional UR processes?

4. Discuss the problem that the Timberlake and Grant (1975) study poses for Pavlov's stimulus substitution theory of performance.

5.  Describe the results from the Akins et al (2000) study that points to the importance of the CS-US interval as a determiner of conditioned responding.

6.  Describe the main features of Timberlake's behavior systems theory and discuss why the results from the Akins et al (2000) study makes sense.

7. What is the main finding regarding the I/T ratio?

8. Explain the comparator hypothesis for conditioned performance.

9. In what sense do the timing approaches to performance and comparator theory suggest that conditioned responding is the product of a decision making process?