Aversive second-order conditioning in the pigeon: Elimination of conditioning to CS1 and effects on established second-order conditioning.

After aversive 2nd-order conditioning was established in groups of female White Carneaux pigeons, conditioning to the 1st-order CS was eliminated by either nonreinforced presentations of CS or truly random presentations CS 1 and UCS. Subsequent testing of CS 2 revealed that nonreinforced CS presentations significantly reduced previously established 2nd-order conditioning, but truly random presentations of CS 1 and UCS did not. Data suggest that an association between the CS 2 memory and UCS memory was formed during 2nd-order conditioning. Results do not support conclusions drawn from previous research that indicated that rats form a direct association between CS 2 memory and CR in both appetitive and aversive 2nd-order conditioning preparations and that pigeons form an association between CS 2 and CS 1 memories in a 2nd-order autoshaping preparation. (French abstract) (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)