Conditioned Inhibition and Superconditioning in an Environment With a Distinctive Shape

In Experiments 1 and 2a rats received an A+/AX- discrimination in a rectangular pool with two submerged platforms in diagonally opposite corners-the correct corners-for A+ trials. For AX- trials, rats were placed in the pool without the platforms but with identical landmarks, X, in the correct corners. Landmark X subsequently passed both a summation and retardation test for inhibition in Experiment I. Upon completion of the discrimination in Experiment 2a, the platforms were placed near identical landmarks in the correct corners of the rectangle. The landmarks were those used for discrimination training for a superconditioning group (AX+ trials), but for a control group they were novel (AY+ trials). During a final test in the pool without the landmarks and the platforms, the superconditioning group spent more time than the control group searching in the correct corners. This finding, which was replicated in a kite-shaped pool in Experiment 2b, demonstrates successful superconditioning by landmark X of the cues created by the shapes of the pools. The results pose a problem for the theory of Miller and Shettleworth (2007).