Latent inhibition and conditioned attention theory

Conducted 4 experiments of relevance to a conditioned attention theory of latent inhibition (LI) phenomenon, using 162 Charles River and 56 Sprague-Dawley male albino rats. The conditioning suppositions of the theory predict that the addition of a 2nd stimulus in a conditioning relationship to the preexposed stimulus should maintain attention to that stimulus and thus attenuate LI. Exps I and II demonstrated this effect in the context of lick-suppression conditioning. It is further supposed that S control of the presentation of the preexposed stimulus should maintain attention to that stimulus and thereby reduce LI. This was demonstrated in Exps III and IV, also in lick-suppression conditioning. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).