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Magazine Training Trials And Context Effects On Autoshaping, Fernando G. Oberdieck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the autoshaping preparation subjects are exposed to magazine training (US-only trials) prior to the conditioning phase in which a stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS) predicts the delivery of a response independent reinforcer (unconditioned stimulus, US). Two experiments examined the hypothesis that irrespective of the number of US-only trials administered the magazine training and autoshaping contexts interact to determine conditioning, as measured by contact responses to the CS. The contexts employed were houselight on (light, L) and houselight off (dark, D).

In Experiment I pigeons were exposed to 1, 20, 100, or 900 US-only trials in a D, or L, context …