Time-induced super-latent inhibition is dependent on the distinctiveness of the retention-interval context from the other experimental contexts

A conditioned taste aversion experiment examined the role of the retention-interval context (between conditioning and test stages) on the modulation of long-delay latent inhibition (LI). A super-LI effect was obtained only when the animals spent the retention interval in a context that was different from that of preexposure, conditioning, and test. Unlike in other super-LI experiments, the context-different conditions were not confounded with the home cage context. Thus, the critical element for producing super-LI is the distinctiveness of the long-delay context relative to the other experimental contexts.