Backward conditioning

A reevaluation of the empirical evidence

Bibliographic Data

ID16869591
AuthorsMarcia L Spetch (0000-0002-0472-073X, University of British Columbia), Donald M Wilkie, John P J Pinel, John P Pinel
Year1981
Volume89
Issue1
Pages163-175
Publication date1981-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychological Bulletin (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-2909 • E-ISSN: 1939-1455
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/0033-2909.89.1.163
PMID7232608
OpenAlexW2125261782
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

There is an apparent discrepancy between the widespread view that backward conditioning does not occur and the experimental evidence which suggests that it does. Backward pairing of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli frequently has resulted in effects similar to those produced by forward pairing, and the results of several recent experiments have established that such effects cannot be attributed to factors other than stimulus pairing per se. Surprisingly, even some of the earlier experiments that provided the basis for the current skepticism concerning backward conditioning provide evidence of its existence. The failure to recognize backward conditioning as a legitimate phenomenon seems to reflect theoretical biases rather than a paucity of empirical evidence. Thus backward conditioning and its properties merit renewed interest and rcexamination. In a recent experiment by Keith-Lucas and Guttman (1975), rats that received a single footshock followed by the presentation of a toy hedgehog subsequently avoided the

Conditioning · Statistics · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes · Educational and Psychological Assessments · Mathematics · Psychology

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