Acquisition and Extinction of the Conditioned Eyelid Response in the Squirrel Monkey as Functions of the CS-UCS Interval

Abstract

Interstimulus intervals of .5, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 sec. were compared for effectiveness in conditioning the blink reaction of the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciurea). Control groups receiving unpaired stimulation, CS-only, and UCS-only were run at each level of ISI. Statistically reliable evidence of conditioning was found in the acquisition data only at .5 sec., with the performance of all groups increasing as a function of ISI. Superior resistance to extinction in the paired group was also discernible only at .5 sec. although the combined performance in extinction of the paired and unpaired groups at 2.0 and 4.0 sec. exceeded that of the .5- and 1.0-sec. groups. A replication experiment using a within-subjects design magnified the interval effect in both acquisition and extinction. The results suggest the operation of pseudoconditioning and sensitization of spontaneous blinks in addition to revealing marked differences from human eyelid conditioning data, particularly in extinction.

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