In two experiments rats were preexposed to neutral stimuli. Both experiments used a between-subjects design in which a paired group was preexposed to intermixed presentations of A→ Band AX, and an unpaired control group was preexposed to intermixed presentations of A, B, and AX. After the conditioning of B, in Experiment 1, conditioned responding to X was acquired more slowly in the paired than in the unpaired group. Furthermore, in Experiment 2, Xreduced conditioned responding to a separately trained excitor in a summation test but only in the paired group. Together, these results provide evidence of an inhibitory form of sensory preconditioning.
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