Austen Joe M, Kosaki Yutaka, McGregor Anthony
Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom.
J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 2013 Jul;39(3):259-72. doi: 10.1037/a0032525. Epub 2013 Apr 29.
In three experiments, rats were trained to locate a submerged platform in one of the base corners of a triangular arena above each of which was suspended one of two distinctive landmarks. In Experiment 1, it was established that these landmarks differed in their salience by the differential control they gained over behavior after training in compound with geometric cues. In Experiment 2, it was shown that locating the platform beneath the less salient landmark potentiated learning based on geometry compared with control rats for which landmarks provided ambiguous information about the location of the platform. The presence of the more salient landmark above the platform for another group of animals appeared to have no effect on learning based on geometry. Experiment 3 established that these landmark and geometry cues entered into within-compound associations during compound training. We argue that these within-compound associations can account for the potentiation seen in Experiment 2, as well as previous failures to demonstrate overshadowing of geometric cues. We also suggest that these within-compound associations need not be of different magnitudes, despite the different effects of each of the landmarks on learning based on geometry seen in Experiment 2. Instead, within-compound associations appear to mitigate the overshadowing effects that traditional theories of associative learning would predict.
在三个实验中，训练大鼠在三角形实验场的一个底角处找到一个水下平台，在每个底角上方悬挂着两个不同的地标之一。在实验1中，通过与几何线索结合训练后，这些地标对行为获得的差异控制，确定了它们在显著性上的差异。在实验2中，结果表明，与地标为平台位置提供模糊信息的对照大鼠相比，在不太显著的地标下方找到平台能增强基于几何形状的学习。对于另一组动物，平台上方更显著地标的存在似乎对基于几何形状的学习没有影响。实验3确定，在复合训练期间，这些地标和几何线索形成了复合内关联。我们认为，这些复合内关联可以解释实验2中看到的增强效应，以及之前未能证明几何线索被遮蔽的情况。我们还表明，尽管在实验2中每个地标对基于几何形状的学习有不同影响，但这些复合内关联的强度不一定不同。相反，复合内关联似乎减轻了联想学习传统理论所预测的遮蔽效应。
