Extinction context as a conditioned inhibitor

Abstract

Two lick suppression experiments using rats were conducted to determine whether extinction of a punctate excitor in a particular context would result in that context becoming a conditioned inhibitor, as defined by passing both summation and retardation tests. The role of extinction trial spacing was investigated as a possible determinant of whether the extinction context would become inhibitory. Experiment 1 demonstrated that, although inhibition was evident using either massed or spaced extinction trials, spaced trials reduced measurable inhibition as assessed by the summation test, but trial spacing had no influence on retardation test performance. Experiment 2 confirmed Experiment 1's conclusions while controlling for the influence of latent inhibition on the retardation test. In Experiment 2, the context proved inhibitory only following massed extinction trials. These data suggest that, at least with select parameters, an extinction context can become inhibitory.