Abstract
Three groups of anosmic rats served as subjects in a two-stage experiment investigating the effects of surgically produced anosmia on behavior in a differential conditioning situation. Differential responding failed to develop during training (Phase I) for either of the two groups of subjects receiving differential reinforcement (large vs. small) in two straight runways of different brightness. Further, the performance of these two groups did not differ from that of a control group receiving small reward in both runways. Some differential responding was shown during extinction (Phase II), suggesting that a preference for the large reward alternative had been established during Phase I by those subjects experiencing differential reinforcement. Possible mechanisms underlying the behavior of the anosmic subject in this situation are discussed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Reference Note
Davis, S. F., Harper, W. E., & Seago, J. D. Runway performance of normal, sham, and anosmic rats as a function of: magnitude of reward and magnitude shift. Unpublished manuscript, 1975.
References
Bower, G. H. A contrast effect in differential conditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1961, 62, 196–199.
Davis, S. F., Gilbert, R. F., & Seaver, W. E. Stimulus onset and its effect on S+ and S− performance in differential conditioning. Psychonomic Science, 1971, 25, 29–31.
Davis, S. F., & Ludvigson, H. W. Differential conditioning as a. function of exposure time to discriminative and. nondiscriminative cues preceding response. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1974, 4, 385–388.
Ludvigson, H. W., & Gay, S. E. Differential reward magnitude conditioning: S− contrast as a function of the magnitude of S+. Psychonomic Science, 1966, 5, 289–290.
Ludvigson, H. W., & Gay, R. A. An investigation of conditions determining contrast effects in differential reward conditioning. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1967, 75, 37–42.
Marrero, B., Davis, S. F., & Seago, J. D. Runway performance of normal and anosmic rats as a function of reward magnitude: A preliminary report. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1973, 2, 375–376.
Robinson, E. The effect of amygdalectomy on fear-motivated behavior in rats. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1963, 56, 814–820.
Weiskrantz, L. Behavioral changes associated with ablation of the amygdaloid complex in monkeys. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 1956, 49, 381–391.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The authors wish to thank Robert E. Prytula who sponsors this paper and takes full editorial responsibility. This research was supported, in part, by a Tower Fund Research Grant from Austin Peay State University to the first author. Thanks are also due William H. Resha for his assistance in performing the statistical analyses. Portions of this paper were presented at the 1975 annual meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Davis, S.F., Seago, J.D. Differential conditioning as a function of surgical anosmia. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 6, 10–12 (1975). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333129
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333129