Cue duration determines response rate but not rate of acquisition of Pavlovian conditioning in mice

Austen, J. M.; Sanderson, D. J.

doi:10.1177/1747021820937696

Cue duration determines response rate but not rate of acquisition of Pavlovian conditioning in mice

Austen, J. M.; Sanderson, D. J.

Authors

J. M. Austen

Professor David Sanderson david.sanderson@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Contributors

Professor Anthony Mcgregor anthony.mcgregor@durham.ac.uk
Other

Abstract

The duration of a conditioned stimulus (CS) is a key determinant of Pavlovian conditioning. Rate estimation theory (RET) proposes that reinforcement rate is calculated over cumulative exposure to a cue and the reinforcement rate of a cue, relative to the background reinforcement rate, determines the speed of acquisition of conditioned responding. Consequently, RET predicts that shorter-duration cues require fewer trials to acquisition than longer-duration cues due to the difference in reinforcement rates. We tested this prediction by reanalysing the results of a previously published experiment. Mice received appetitive Pavlovian conditioning of magazine approach behaviour with a 10-s CS and a 40-s CS. Cue duration did not affect the rate at which responding emerged or the rate at which it peaked. The 10-s CS did elicit higher levels of responding than the 40-s CS. These results are not consistent with rate estimation theory. Instead, they are consistent with an associative analysis that assumes that asymptotic levels of responding reflect the balance between increments and decrements in associative strength across cumulative exposure to a cue.

Citation

Austen, J. M., & Sanderson, D. J. (2020). Cue duration determines response rate but not rate of acquisition of Pavlovian conditioning in mice. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 73(11), 2026-2035. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021820937696

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jun 5, 2020
Online Publication Date	Jul 14, 2020
Publication Date	Nov 1, 2020
Deposit Date	Jun 5, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Jul 14, 2020
Journal	Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Print ISSN	1747-0218
Electronic ISSN	1747-0226
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	73
Issue	11
Pages	2026-2035
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021820937696
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1300723

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