This experiment examined the effect upon acquisition of the conditioned eyeblink of 4 conditions of variability in the location of a visual CS. Ss each received 60 reinforced trials under one of the CS conditions. The results showed no discernable effect of CS variability upon performance: Ss Treated the physically-different CS events as equivalent.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BrownJ. S.BassB.The acquisition and extinction of an instrumental response under constant and variable stimulus conditions. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1958, 51, 499–504.
2.
BurkeC. J.EstesW. K.HellyerS.Rate of verbal conditioning in relation to stimulus variability. J. exp. Psychol., 1954, 48, 153–161.
3.
EstesW. K.The statistical approach to learning theory. In KochS. (Ed.), Psychology: a study of a science.Vol. 2. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959. Pp 380–491.
4.
GoodrichK. P.MarkowitzJ.NormanD. A.An AC-amplification system for recording eyeblinks and other movements. Amer. J. Psychol., 1964, 77, 127–128.
5.
GoodrichK. P.MarkowitzJ.WallA. M.Differential eyeblink conditioning in voluntary and nonvoluntary subjects. Psychol. Rep., 1963, 13, 723–730.
6.
HartmanT. F.RossL. E.An alternative criterion for the elimination of “voluntary” responses in eyelid conditioning. J. exp. Psychol., 1961, 61, 334–338.
