Publisher Summary This chapter deals with a theory to account for the latent inhibition (LI) phenomenon in particular, and other stimulus pre-exposure phenomena with special reference to such paradigms as habituation, learned helplessness, sensory preconditioning, blocking, and the feature positive effect. The theory is based on the application of conditioning principles during the stimulus pre-exposure phase of a transfer experiment conditioned attention theory. LI is a decrement in learning performance that results from repeated non-reinforced pre-exposure of the to-be-conditioned stimulus. Empirical support for these predictions is drawn from a series of experiments specifically designed to evaluate the theory and from experiments designed outside the theory's framework.

Conditioned Attention Theory1

Response decrement with repeated elicitation of human neonatal cardiac acceleration to sound.

The establishment of flavor-flavor associations using a sensory preconditioning training procedure

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a way of classifying classical conditioning experiments into four subclasses. The four subclasses involve successively less motivation from extrinsic sources and more dependence upon the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (UCS) alone. A tridimensional classification of operant or instrumental experiments is outlined that depends upon cues, nature of the reinforcement, and nature of the response demanded of the subject. The two sets of subclassifications are necessarily operational and incompletely operational at that rather than functional. The chapter explains some of the further operations and functional relations that set limits to the operational classification. It discusses the human classical and operant conditioning, both the simple forms and more complex varieties that parallel in some regard the basic varieties of human learning that form the subject matter of this symposium. When rewards or punishments are used in experiments a complicated mixture of classical and instrumental conditioning takes place.

Classical and Operant Conditioning

Seeing an object triggers a complex and carefully orchestrated dance of brain activity. The spatial pattern of the brain activity encoding the object can change multiple times even within the first second of seeing the object. These rapid changes appear to be a core feature of how the brain understands and processes objects. Yet little is known about how these patterns unfold through time when we remember an object. Remembering, or retrieving information about objects, is how we use our knowledge of the world to make good decisions. It is not clear whether, during remembering, there are rapid changes in the patterns similar to those that happen when directly seeing an object. Mapping brain activity during remembering could help us understand how stored information can guide decisions. Using recently developed methods in brain imaging and statistics, Kurth-Nelson et al. found that two distinct patterns of brain activity appeared when viewing particular objects. One occurred around 200 milliseconds after viewing an object, and the other appeared a bit later, by about 400 milliseconds. Later, when remembering the object, these patterns reappeared in the brain, but at different points in time. Furthermore, these two patterns had distinct roles in learning associated with the objects to guide later decisions. This work shows that rapid changes in the pattern of neuronal activity are central to how stored information is retrieved and used to make decisions.

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Robert J. Seidel

Papers

A review of sensory preconditioning.