Deactivation and reactivation of the inhibitory power of a conditioned inhibitor: Testing the predictions of an attentional-associative model

An attentional-associative model (Schmajuk, Lam, & Gray Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 22, 321–349, 1996) assumes that nonreinforced presentations of an inhibitory conditioned stimulus (CS) do not decrease its inhibitory associations. However, the model predicts that extended presentations will decrease attention to the inhibitor, thereby decreasing both (1) the expression of its inhibitory power in a summation test and (2) the rate of acquisition in a retardation test. The model also predicts that subsequent presentations of the inhibitory CS with a novel CS will increase both (1) and (2). Using a predictive learning design in humans, Experiment 1 examined the predictions involving the summation tests, whereas Experiments 2 and 3 examined the predictions involving the retardation tests. Experimental results were in agreement with the predictions of the model.