Retardation tests of inhibition following discriminative autoshaping

Four experiments explored various applications of the retardation test of inhibition following discriminative autoshaping. In all studies, discriminative autoshaping consisted of food-reinforced presentations of a green key-light CS+ and nonreinforced presentations of a vertical white line on a green background CS?. In Experiment 1, the inhibitory properties of the vertical Une CS? were assessed by comparing the acquisition of keypecking to the now-reinforced vertical line CS in groups previously receiving discriminative autoshaping (as above), discriminative autoshaping with a red key CS?, and nondiscriminative autoshaping. The results indicated that the former CS? was retarded in being transformed into a CS+. In Experiment 2, the discriminative autoshaping procedure was followed by testing for acquisition with independent groups receiving one of four different CSs differentiated by line orientation. The results indicated that the orientation attribute of the CS? was inhibitory, in that a between-subjects resistance-to-reinforcement gradient of inhibition was obtained. In Experiment 3, discriminative autoshaping was followed by a within-subjects resistance-to-reinforcement generalization test based on line orientation, which failed to yield an orderly gradient. The implementation of a DRO contingency in the within-subjects test (Experiment 4) was ineffective in generating an incremental gradient. Implications for inhibitory assessment methodology are discussed.