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Abstract

The influence of non-reinforced exposure to compound stimuli on subsequent appetitive classical conditioning was examined in five experiments with rats as the subjects. Non-reinforced exposure to a visual stimulus retarded subsequent acquisition of conditioned responding relative to a non-pre-exposed condition (latent inhibition). If the target stimulus was pre-exposed in compound with a second (non-target) stimulus, then latent inhibition was abolished. Exposure to the non-target stimulus prior to compound exposure had varying effects on subsequent conditioning to the target: 40 exposures to the non-target stimulus resulted in latent inhibition to the target stimulus that was comparable in magnitude to that observed when the target stimulus was exposed in isolation; 120 exposures to the non-target stimulus enhanced latent inhibition to the target stimulus.

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Enhanced Latent Inhibition following Compound Pre-Exposure

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