| Abstract: | Three experiments, with 48 female Carneaux pigeons, used autoshaping procedures to assess associations between Pavlovian CSs and the contexts in which they occur. Three contexts were identified by different visual wall patterns; conditioning of those contexts was assessed by the amount of general activity in their presence. Exp I found that key-light CSs given discriminative autoshaping with food in 1 context could differentially 2nd-order conditioned activity to 2 new contexts. Exp II used a sensory preconditioning procedure to detect associations between 2 contexts and neutral key lights given in their presence. When those key lights were differentially paired with food in a 3rd context, activity changed differentially in the original 2 contexts. Exp III found that if 2 key lights were paired with food in 2 different contexts, differential extinction of those key lights induced differential activity in their contexts. Consequently, CSs that are either previously conditioned, neutral, or currently undergoing conditioning all become associated with the context in which they appear. Exps II and III found that the changes in context value induced by manipulation of the key lights influenced learning and performance to other CSs. A context that was made valuable through manipulation of its CS was better able to block conditioning to another CS but also better able to promote performance to previously trained CSs. Results agree with outcomes of direct conditioning of a context by a UCS and suggest that CS-induced changes in context are quite powerful. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
