Transfer of latent inhibition of aversively conditioned autonomic responses through equivalence classes

Résumé 0

"The present paper briefly presents a novel experimental preparation for the studyof the transfer/transformation of respondent functions. Specifically, this study dealswith the transfer of latent inhibition. Latent inhibition takes place as a result of thepreexposure of the to-be-conditioned stimulus prior to conditioning [repeatedpresentation of the conditioned stimulus (CS) in the absence of the unconditionedstimulus (UCS), prior to CS-UCS pairings]. This study attempts to see whethersuch an effect can be obtained when the preexposed stimulus is not the to-beconditioned-stimulus, but a stimulus in an equivalence relation with the CS. Afterthe formation of two equivalence classes (A1-B1-C1 and A2-B2-C2) 4 subjectswere preexposed to A1, whereas the other 4 were preexposed to a novel unrelatedstimulus. Subsequently all 8 participants underwent aversive differential conditioningwith C1 as the CS+, C3 as the CS- and mild electric shock as the UCS. Conditionedemotional responses were recorded as heart rate (HR) variations. Three of the foursubjects preexposed to the novel unrelated stimulus showed larger HR responses tothe CS+ (C1) than to the CS-. No subject preexposed to A1 showed differentialconditioned responses to C1. Results are discussed in terms of their implications forthe understanding of human emotional responding and the etiology of human fearsand phobias."