Nonreinforced preexposure of a to-be-conditioned stimulus produces a strong latent inhibition effect in adult humans¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q3
Currency · newest study 1975 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Adult humans preexposed to the CS without reinforcement required significantly more CS presentations to reach the learning criterion than nonpreexposed adults. → A. Ginton 1975

Evidence¶

A. Ginton 1975¶

A. Ginton, G. Urca, and R. E. Lubow. (1975). The effects of preexposure to a nonattended stimulus on subsequent learning: Latent inhibition in adults. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1975, Vol. 5 (1), 5-8. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03336682

q3 · i? · causal · r1

Controlled experiment with 40 Tel-Aviv University undergraduates randomly divided into four groups. "A comparison of the number of trials to reach the learning criterion" showed differences "in favor of the nonpreexposed groups" (U = 73.5, p < .001, one-tailed).

"A comparison of the number of trials to reach the learning criterion for the subjects preexposed to the critical stimulus (Groups PE/M and PE/NM) as compared to groups not preexposed to the critical stimulus (Groups NPE/M and NPE/NM) yielded differences in favor of the nonpreexposed groups. This latent inhibition effect was highly reliable (U = 73.5 , p < .00 1, one-tailed)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Latent inhibition in adults occurs even when the CS is preexposed under severe conditions of inattention — related
• Latent inhibition occurs irrespective of whether preexposure was to the monitored or the nonmonitored ear — related
• The inattention manipulation was behaviorally verified: only one of 10 nonmonitored-ear subjects reported hearing the CS during preexposure versus eight of 10 monitored-ear subjects — related
• Selective attention reduces encoding of unattended information and induces learned inattention that makes future learning more difficult — a broader claim this one bears on