Roles of context in acquisition of human instrumental learning: Implications for the understanding of the mechanisms underlying context-switch effects

Gámez, A. Matías; León, Samuel P.; Rosas, Juan M.

doi:10.3758/s13420-016-0256-8

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…This result has been reported in human instrumental conditioning using techniques based on the same principles (Gámez & Rosas, 2007). Indirect evidence of S-R associations is also reported by Colwill (1994; see also Gámez et al, 2017) using transfer procedures. Rescorla (1986, 1988) also used transfer tests to uncover the role of S-O associations in instrumental conditioning.…”

Section: The Study Of the Contents Of Learning In Instrumental Condit...supporting

confidence: 78%

“…Recent reports suggest that the range of associations that can be established in an instrumental situation is even larger than the ones discussed so far. Thrailkill and Bouton (2015), and Gámez et al (2017) studies of the role of context in instrumental conditioning suggest a more complex picture of the contents of instrumental learning that the one depicted. Entering into discussion of the role played by contexts in instrumental conditioning falls outside the scope of this manuscript.…”

Section: The Study Of the Contents Of Learning In Instrumental Condit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pavlov: Vivisectionist of the Mind

Clark¹

2022

Historia de la psicologia

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Section: The Study Of the Contents Of Learning In Instrumental Condit...supporting

confidence: 78%

Section: The Study Of the Contents Of Learning In Instrumental Condit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pavlov: Vivisectionist of the Mind

Clark¹

2022

Historia de la psicologia

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“…This is why we explicitly instructed participants about the sensors, the range of weapons, or ammunition limitations among other requirements to ensure motivation while reducing individual interpretations that may interfere with the actual requirements of the task (see a similar approach in Arcediano, Ortega, & Matute, 1996; Nelson & Sanjuan, 2006). Additionally, we decided to use a procedure that has been shown to parallel animal instrumental learning phenomena in human participants (Gámez & Rosas, 2005, 2007; Gámez, León, & Rosas, 2017). However, it is unlikely that a human child playing a simple game and a hungry rat searching for food reach the same level of involvement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The state of transfer of stimulus control after extinction in human instrumental conditioning: A key factor in therapy strategies based in nonhuman animal research.

Gámez¹,

León

Moreno-Fernández³

et al. 2020

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne

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Previous research has shown that instrumental training can encourage the formation of binary associations between the representations of the elements present at the time of learning, that is, between the discriminative stimulus and the instrumental response (the S-R association), between the stimulus and outcome (the S-O association), and between the response and outcome (the R-O association). Studies with rats have used transfer procedures to explore the effects of discriminative extinction (i.e., extinction that is carried out in the presence of the discriminative stimuli) on these three binary associations. Thus, a reduction in the response rate of the extinguished response (R) can be detected in situations involving a different discriminative stimulus that was associated with the same outcome, and to unextinguished responses controlled by the discriminative stimulus (S) and associated with the outcome (O). These transfer effects suggest that R-O and S-O associations remain active after extinction in nonhuman animals. We carried out an experiment to explore these postextinction transfer effects in humans using a within-subject design. Contrary to nonhuman reports, the S-O association was affected by discriminative extinction, suggesting differences in the associative structure of instrumental conditioning in human and nonhuman animals that should be considered by those therapeutic strategies based in nonhuman animal research aimed to reduce unhealthy instrumental behaviours in human beings. Public Significance StatementAnimal research has shown that when a response stops being followed by an outcome (i.e., when it is extinguished), the underlying associations that maintained that response remain active. The experiment presented here reveals that extinction of human voluntary responding may be an exception to this general rule, a result that is quite relevant from a clinical point of view, as most psychological treatments involve some form of extinction.

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“…Similar results have been shown in delay matching-to-sample test in humans (Dibbets, Maes, & Vossen, 2002). The results suggest that the context is an important part of the associative structure that underlies instrumental learning (Bouton & Todd, 2014; Gámez, León, & Rosas, 2017; Thrailkill & Bouton, 2015; Trask & Bouton, 2014).…”

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confidence: 94%

Retrieval practice after multiple context changes, but not long retention intervals, reduces the impact of a final context change on instrumental behavior

Trask

Bouton

2017

Learn Behav

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Recent evidence from this laboratory suggests that a context switch after operant learning consistently results in a decrement in responding. One way to reduce this decrement is to train the response in multiple contexts. One interpretation of this result, rooted in stimulus sampling theory, is that conditioning of a greater number of common stimulus elements arising from more contexts causes better generalization to new contexts. An alternative explanation is that each change of context causes more effortful retrieval, and practice involving effortful retrieval results in learning that is better able to transfer to new situations. The current experiments were designed to differentiate between these two explanations for the first time in an animal learning and memory task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the detrimental impact of a context change on an instrumental nose-poking response can be reduced by training the response in multiple contexts. Experiment 2 then found that a training procedure which inserted extended retention intervals between successive training sessions did not reduce the detrimental impact of a final context change. This occurred even though the inserted retention intervals had a detrimental impact on responding (and, thus, presumably retrieval) similar to the effect that context switches had in Experiment 1. Together, the results suggest that effortful retrieval practice may not be sufficient to reduce the negative impact of a context change on instrumental behavior. A common elements explanation which supposes that physical and temporal contextual cues do not overlap may account for the findings more readily.

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Roles of context in acquisition of human instrumental learning: Implications for the understanding of the mechanisms underlying context-switch effects

Cited by 3 publications

References 47 publications

Pavlov: Vivisectionist of the Mind

Pavlov: Vivisectionist of the Mind

The state of transfer of stimulus control after extinction in human instrumental conditioning: A key factor in therapy strategies based in nonhuman animal research.

Retrieval practice after multiple context changes, but not long retention intervals, reduces the impact of a final context change on instrumental behavior

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