EFFECTS OF PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT ON ACQUISITION AND EXTINCTION OF THE CONDITIONED EYEBLINK IN A MASKING SITUATION.

THE EFFECT OF PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT ON THE ACQUISITION AND EXTINCTION OF THE EYELID CR IN HUMAN SS WAS INVESTIGATED IN THE CONTEXT OF A MASKING SITUATION (PROBABILITY LEARNING). ALL SS WERE GIVEN 60 REINFORCED TRIALS AND PARTIAL SS ALSO RECEIVED AN EQUAL NUMBER OF NONREINFORCED (DELAYED UCS) TRIALS IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO EQUATE CS, UCS, AND CS-UCS PRESENTATION RATES IN PARTIAL AND CONTINUOUS GROUPS. EXTINCTION WAS CARRIED OUT WITH AN UNPAIRED UCS TECHNIQUE DESIGNED TO MAINTAIN MOTIVATION. THE LACK OF SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE GROUPS IN BOTH ACQUISITION AND EXTINCTION WAS INTERPRETED AS BEING DUE TO THE ABSENCE OF THE COGNITIVE INHIBITORY SET ASSUMED TO BE OPERATIVE WITH NONREINFORCEMENT IN THE STANDARD SITUATION. THE LACK OF A PARTIAL-REINFORCEMENT EFFECT IN ANIMAL CLASSICAL AVERSIVE CONDITIONING STUDIES WAS CITED AS FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR THIS INTERPRETATION. (22 REF.)