Further evidence against the classical conditioning model of McCollough effects

Skowbo, D.; Förster, Thomas

doi:10.3758/bf03205909

Cited by 21 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…One finding that has been seen as contrary to an associative analysis of the phenomenon is the failure to demonstrate that it is decremented by reducing the con- tingency between the putative CS and UCS. Skowbo and Forster (1983) reported that the addition of homogeneous chromatic stimuli (presumably equivalent to UCSalone presentations) to the sequence of usual grid-pluscolor McCollough patterns did not have a significant influence on the size of the ME. Inasmuch as interpolated UCS-alone presentations often decrement the strength of conditioning (see Rescorla & Wagner, 1972), Skowbo and Forster suggested that their results were contrary to an associative model of the ME.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As suggested by Rescorla and Wagner (1972), the detrimental effect of interpolated UCS-alone presentations on the strength of the CS-UCS association may not be apparent early in acquisition. In Skowbo and Forster's (1983) study, a training session lasted for 10 min, and of the 10 min the colored grids were present for a maximum of 5 min.1 It is possible that a training period more extensive thanthat used by Skowbo and Forster may be necessary to evidence the effects of degraded contingency. One purpose of the present experiment was to evaluate the effect of contingency manipulations on the strength of the ME in subjects given more extensive ME training.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Skowbo and Forster's (1983) study, a training session lasted for 10 min, and of the 10 min the colored grids were present for a maximum of 5 min.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Skowbo and Forster's (1983) experiment, the contingency between the CS and UCS was decremented by interpolating UCS-alone presentations between paired CS-UCS presentations. The contingency between a CS and UCS can be decremented in other ways, too, and another purpose of the present experiment was to evaluate the effects of other contingency-reduction procedures on the magnitude of the ME.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Contingency and the McCollough effect

Siegel

Allan

1987

Perception & Psychophysics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

According to a Pavlovian conditioning analysis of the orientation-contingent color aftereffect (the McCollough effect), orientation stimuli become associated with simultaneously presented chromatic stimuli. This account suggests that decreasing the contingency between the putative conditional stimulus (grid orientation) and the unconditional stimulus (color)should decrease the strength of the aftereffect. In the present experiment, the effect of presentations of achromatic grids and/or homogeneous chromatic stimuli between presentations of chromatic grids was evaluated. Although interpolated achromatic grid presentations did decrease the magnitude of the McCollough effect, interpolated chromatic stimuli had no effect on the magnitude of the phenomenon. The results are discussed in terms of current research concerning the selective associability of certain categories of conditional and unconditional stimuli, and differences in the development of associations between simultaneously (compared with successively) presented conditional and unconditional stimuli.Orientation-contingent color aftereffects, originally reported by McCollough (1965), are readily demonstrated. During a training period of several minutes, an observer inspects two patterns that alternate every few seconds. For example, one pattern could consist of black horizontal bars on a green background and the other pattern could consist of black vertical bars on a magenta background. Following such training, complementary color aftereffects contingent on bar orientation are noted. In the above example, the achromatic background of horizontal bars would appear pinkish and the achromatic background of vertical bars would appear greenish.A number of investigators (e.g., Allan & Siegel, 1986; Bonnet, 1975; Bonnett, LeGall, & Lorenceau, 1984;Murch, 1976; Schmidt, Pinette, & Finke, 1978;Siegel & Allan, 1985; Skowbo, Timney, Gentry, & Morant, 1975;Westbrook & Harrison, 1984) have suggested that the McCollough effect (ME) is a phenomenon of classical conditioning. According to Murch (1976), The lined grid in inspection functions as a conditioned stimulus (CS) while color functions as the unconditioned stimulus (DCS). As a resultof the pairingof the CS (lined grid) with the DCS (color) a conditioned response (CR) develops so that the adaptive response of the visualsystem to the color is evoked by the lined grid. (p. 615)There is considerable controversy as to the associative status of the ME (Allan & Siegel, 1986;Skowbo, 1984Skowbo, , 1986. One finding that has been seen as contrary to an associative analysis of the phenomenon is the failure to demonstrate that it is decremented by reducing the con- tingency between the putative CS and UCS. Skowbo and Forster (1983) reported that the addition of homogeneous chromatic stimuli (presumably equivalent to UCSalone presentations) to the sequence of usual grid-pluscolor McCollough patterns did not have a significant influence on the size of the ME. Inasmuch as interpolated UCS-alone presentations often decrement the s...

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Skowbo and Forster's (1983) study, a training session lasted for 10 min, and of the 10 min the colored grids were present for a maximum of 5 min.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations