MECHANISMS UNDERLYING SPONTANEOUS-RECOVERY IN AUTOSHAPING

Four experiments used an autoshaping preparation with pigeons to examine the mechanisms underlying spontaneous recovery following extinction training. Experiment 1 served to establish the optimum conditions for studying recovery in autoshaping. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that recovery occurs during testing in the middle of a session in the presence of contextual cues uniquely associated with extinction. Such findings are inconsistent with several popular models of extinction. Experiment 4 involved endowing a stimulus with both excitatory and inhibitory properties. Both properties were reduced by extinction training and then recovered after a delay. This result is inconsistent with the notion that extinction training generates inhibitory associations that fade over time. However, it supports the idea that extinction results in a temporary reduction in processing of the conditioned stimulus.