The state of transfer of stimulus control after extinction in human instrumental conditioning: A key factor in therapy strategies based in nonhuman animal research.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that instrumental training can encourage the formation of binary associations between the representations of the elements present at the time of learning, that is, between the discriminative stimulus and the instrumental response (the S-R association), between the stimulus and outcome (the S-O association), and between the response and outcome (the R-O association). Studies with rats have used transfer procedures to explore the effects of discriminative extinction (i.e., extinction that is carried out in the presence of the discriminative stimuli) on these three binary associations. Thus, a reduction in the response rate of the extinguished response (R) can be detected in situations involving a different discriminative stimulus that was associated with the same outcome, and to unextinguished responses controlled by the discriminative stimulus (S) and associated with the outcome (O). These transfer effects suggest that R-O and S-O associations remain active after extinction in nonhuman animals. We carried out an experiment to explore these postextinction transfer effects in humans using a within-subject design. Contrary to nonhuman reports, the S-O association was affected by discriminative extinction, suggesting differences in the associative structure of instrumental conditioning in human and nonhuman animals that should be considered by those therapeutic strategies based in nonhuman animal research aimed to reduce unhealthy instrumental behaviours in human beings. Public Significance StatementAnimal research has shown that when a response stops being followed by an outcome (i.e., when it is extinguished), the underlying associations that maintained that response remain active. The experiment presented here reveals that extinction of human voluntary responding may be an exception to this general rule, a result that is quite relevant from a clinical point of view, as most psychological treatments involve some form of extinction.

Review of Behavioral Psychology in Transition to Solar Photovoltaics for Low-Income Individuals

“…Based on the punishment literature and social psychology research, these uncertain feelings act as punishment discriminative stimulus [71,73]. Discriminative stimulus acts as a signal for the individuals to predict whether reinforcement or punishment is forthcoming [74]. Based on the following prediction, humans behave accordingly to attain the reward and avoid the events that they take as aversive.…”

Pavlov: Vivisectionist of the Mind

“…Contrary to the general trend in comparative studies regarding nonhuman and human associative learning contents, results in human instrumental conditioning point towards the idea that extinction affects different associative structures in human and nonhuman animals. Gámez and Rosas (2005) used PIT and found that extinction of an instrumental response eliminated the transfer effect, suggesting that human instrumental extinction may be solved by establishing S-NoO associations, rather than by establishing S-No R associations (see also Gámez et al, 2020).…”

Unifying psychological and biological approaches to understanding animal cognition.

“…The next two contributions use traditional psychological laboratory tests to ask questions about the mechanisms of associative learning as applied to foraging ecology (Craft, James, Reaves, & Olson, 2020) and to make comparisons between humans and clinical models for human treatments (Gámez, León, Moreno-Fernández, & Rosas, 2020). Craft et al (2020) tested the effects of successive negative contrast using rats ( Rattus norvegicus ), and the results suggest that animals alter their foraging strategies in ways that may seem contradictory.…”

“…Thus, comparative cognition research conducted in the laboratory informs what may be observed in cognitive ecology studies conducted in the field. Gámez et al (2020) tested transfer of stimulus control after extinction in humans and compared their results with those previously observed in nonhuman animals. The overarching aim of Gámez et al was not only to compare the results of transfer of stimulus control as a scientific exercise but more importantly to delineate differences in underlying associative structure between humans and nonhuman 158 GUILLETTE AND STURDY animals, the latter of which are often used in the laboratory to test potential behavioural-based therapeutic interventions.…”