Backward inhibition is proposed as a process of lateral inhibition that operates during response selection in task switching, reducing interference caused by the most recently abandoned task set. The effect has been observed across a wide range of contexts but is eliminated by using spatial location to cue tasks (K. D. Arbuthnott & T. S. Woodward,…

In feature search tasks, uncertainty about the dimension on which targets differ from the nontargets hampers search performance relative to a situation in which this dimension is known in advance. Typically, these cross-dimensional costs are associated with less efficient guidance of attention to the target. In the present study, participants…

A general hypothesis of associative learning should be based on the broadest possible foundation of empirical evidence, including confirmation in both aversive and appetitive situations. For this reason the present experiment was designed to test the surprise hypothesis using a procedure in which the unconditioned stimulus was the presentation of…

There has been considerable interest lately in cases where instrumental conditionability appears to depend on the reinforcer used. Here the effects of Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (CSs)on golden hamster behaviors was observed. The intent was to see whether previously reported differences among the behaviors produced by food reinforcement and…

Three experiments investigated the relationship in speech perception between the mechanisms that determine the source of speech sounds and those that analyze their actual acoustic contents and extract from them the acoustic cues to a sound's phonetic description. (Author/RK)

The present report describes an expanded replication of the previous experiments in a nonlaboratory real-play setting unique to the experimental literature on decision processes - a casino in downtown Las Vegas. (Author)

The present study examines the effects of two common stresses, noise and sleep loss, on task performance. (Author/RK)

Emphasizes the importance of situation as a determinant of human behavior which is too often ignored in experimental psychology. (BH)

Stimulus analyzer theory as proposed by Sutherland and Mackintosh (1971) makes the unique prediction that the first-experienced reinforcement schedule will influence resistance to extinction more than subsequent schedules. Results presently reported of runaway acquisition and extinction indicate the opposite: C-P consistently produce substantially…

Recent data indicate that the form of the conditioned response (CR) may often be substantially influenced by the characteristics of the conditioned stimulus (CS) as well as by those of the unconditioned stimulus (US). Here five experiments examine the influence of CS characteristics on the form of the Pavlovian CR anticipatory to a food US in…

Conjugate reinforcement is a new attention measure which has emerged from experimental psychology. It can provide accurate measurement of a subject's attention to a stimulus. In conjugate reinforcement, the duration of the stimulus varies directly and immediately with the subject's rate of response. In this process, the subject must demonstrate…

These experiments attempt to optimize the possibility of demonstrating blocking in a taste-aversion paradigm and to elucidate the conditions under which this interference occurs. (Author/RK)

To complement investigations of the direct effects of lithium toxicosis on consummatory behavior, these experiments were designed to determine the aftereffects on drinking of exposure to a conditioned stimulus previously paired with lithium. (Author/RK)

In four different experiments, brief illumination of a localized visual stimulus was followed by grain presentation unless the pigeon approached the light. Results indicate that although response-reinforcer relations do play a role, stimulus-reinforcer contingencies are the dominant factor in establishing and maintaining approaches to the…