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Contextual control of conflicting associations in the developing rat
Author(s) -
Moye Thomas B.,
Brasser Susan M.,
Palmer Larry,
Zeisset Crista
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420250302
Subject(s) - psychology , context (archaeology) , habit , extinction (optical mineralogy) , developmental psychology , control (management) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , biology , artificial intelligence , computer science , paleontology
Two experiments examined the effects of manipulations of contextual cues on the expression of conflicting associations in 18‐, 26‐, and 35‐day‐old rats. Subjects learned to GO RIGHT in a water‐filled T‐maze, then were trained to reverse this position habit (GO LEFT). When the competing responses were learned in the same visual context, all age groups displayed a recency effect on a subsequent test in extinction; they behaved in accordance with the last‐learned GO LEFT habit. If the competing responses were learned in different visual context, and testing took place in the context of the first problem, 35‐day‐old subjects behaved in a manner consistent with the GO RIGHT context (reduced recency). However, similarly trained 18‐day‐old subjects showed no evidence of a reduced recency effect. Given that 18‐day‐old rats are sensitive to other context manipulations, the present results suggest that the ability to “disambiguate” conflicting associations by context may be depend upon the maturation of a relatively late‐developing configural learning system. © 1992 Wiley & sons. Inc.