5 Instrumental Conditioning Foundations 3 5 Increasing salivation after experiencing repeated CS US pairings Pseudoconditioning Control Groups Pseudoconditioning CR like responding based on experience with US CR like responding based on experience with CS Pseudoconditioning in Sign Tracking procedures Pseudoconditioning in Human Eyeblink procedures Pseudoconditioning Control Procedures According to Temporal Contiguity Theory According to Delta P Contingency Theory Pseudoconditioning Pseudo means sham false spurious pretended counterfeit Pseudoconditioning refers to CR like responding that is not due to the development of Pseudoconditioning may be due to experience with the US per se or to the experience the CS US association with the CS per se Pseudoconditioning in Sign Tracking Procedures Sign Tracking Procedures o CS Insertion of lever o US Delivery of food pellet o UR Approach contact eat the food o CR Approach contact eat the lever If we observe an increase in lever CS directed contacts as a function of experience with CS US pairings this could be due at least in part to the development of Pseudoconditioning Pseudoconditioning may develop due to experience with food US Each food presentation induces psychomotor activation due to the release of forebrain dopamine increasing the gross motor activity of the rat When a rat is actively moving about the experimental chamber the rat is more likely to make contact with the lever CS resulting in the recording of a Sign Tracking CR Pseudoconditioning may develop due to insertion of the lever US The insertion of the lever CS may elicit aggressive responses in the territorial rat o Greeted with aggressive display protect food territory o See lever as intruder Thus mere experience with repeated insertions of the lever CS will increase the likelihood of contacting and biting the lever CS Pseudoconditioning in Human Eyeblink Conditioning Human Eyeblink conditioning procedures o CS Tone presented through headphones o US Puff of air to cornea of the eye o UR Eyeblink to air puff US o CR Eyeblink to tone CS before presentation of US If we observe an increase in eyeblinking following the CS as a function of experience with the CS US pairings this could be due at least in part to the development of Pseudoconditioning Pseudoconditioning may develop due to experience with air puff US Each air puff US presentation dries out or desiccates the corneal membrane on surface of the eye elevating the baseline blink rate of the subject during the course of the experimental procedures Thus mere experience with the air puff US per se repeatedly during the experimental session will produce an increase in the likelihood of blinking during the interstimulus interval ISI resulting in the recording of the Eyeblink CR more frequently later in the session than earlier in the session o Rate of blinking will probably be higher towards the end of the trial repeated drying of the eye deliver the tone CS Pseudoconditioning may develop due to experience with the procedures employed to Wearing headphones for an extended period of time may influence the rate of eyeblinking As the experimental session proceeds the headphones may become increasingly uncomfortable causing the subject to become more tense As tension increases the tendency for an acoustic stimulus such as the tone CS to elicit an Eyeblink increases because blinking due to acoustic startle is a positive function of muscle tension Thus the longer the duration of experience with the headphones used to deliver the tones CS the higher the likelihood of blinking during the interstimulus interval ISI resulting in the recording of the Eyeblink CR more frequently later in the session than earlier in the session Pseudoconditioning Control Procedures Experience with US per se can induce Pseudoconditioning of CR like responding Experience with CS per se can induce Pseudoconditioning of CR like responding A Pseudoconditioning control group estimates the degree to which experience with US per se and experience with CS per se induces Pseudoconditioning of CR like responding The proper Pseudoconditioning control procedures therefore must provide for experience with US and experience with CS but in a manner such that the subject does not come to associate the CS with the US The amount of CR performance in the Experimental Group CS US paired group that exceeds CR like responding in the Pseudoconditioning Control Group is due to learning of the CS US association Pseudoconditioning Control A little Pseudoconditioning B control group experienced CS and US but not as pairs o Majority of behavior can be attributed to Pseudoconditioning Drug Enhances CS US Learning Improved faster learning with paired Racitam enhances salivary response in humans No pseudoconditioning Can conclude the drug is a cognitive enhancer Drug Enhances Pseudoconditioning Does not show that the change in behavior is from learning Focus on pseudoconditioning Construction of Pseudoconditioning Control Procedures How does one construct the procedures for the pseudoconditioning control group According to the CS US Temporal Contiguity Theory Pavlov CS US association is due to presenting the US shortly after the CS so the proper pseudoconditioning control group should not experience the US shortly after the CS According to the Delta P Model of CS US Contingency Theory Rescorla CS US association is due to X Y so the proper pseudoconditioning control group should experience X Y or Delta P 0 As many CSs and USs as paired group but never paired o Everything would be pseudoconditioned Pseudoconditioning Control Procedure for CS US Temporal Contiguity Theory According to CS US Temporal Contiguity Theory CR P US CS The pseudoconditioning control group should experience the US and the pseudoconditioning control group should also experience CS but such that the US is never presented in the moments in time following the presentation of the CS The pseudoconditioning control group should experience CR P US CS 0 According to CS US Temporal Contiguity Theory the pseudoconditioning control group should experience R P US CS 0 For example the CS US Unpaired procedure provides for experience with CS and US such as the US never follows CS onset closely in time For example the Backward Conditioning procedure provides for experience with CS and US such that the US never follows CS onset closely in time CS US Unpaired Same number of levers and food as the subjects who receive CS US