In reply to a paper by Ely (1972), data from an earlier study (Öhman, 1971) were reanalysed. It was shown that the offset electrodermalorienting response habituated to a tone of 10 sec. duration generalized to tones of progressively shorter duration. Opposite to the results of Ely, then, the present results favor Sokolov's (1963) theory of habituation of the OR, while firmly contradicting prediction from Stein's (1966) classical conditioning conception of habituation, Possible reasons for the discrepant results are discussed.
References
1.
ElyD. J.Temporal duration as a dimension in generalization of the orienting response. Percept. mot. Skills, 1972, 34, 271–276.
2.
ÖhmanA.Differentiation of conditioned and orienting response components in electro-dermal conditioning. Psychophysiol., 1971, 8, 7–22.
3.
SokolovYe. N.Perception and the conditioned reflex. London: Pergamon, 1963.
4.
SteinL.Habituation and stimulus novelty: a model based on classical conditioning. Psychol. Rev., 1966, 73, 352–356.
