Blocking and Unblocking in a Navigation Task

Autor/inn/en	Rodrigo, T.; Arall, M.; Chamizo, V. D.
Titel	Blocking and Unblocking in a Navigation Task
Quelle	In: Psicologica: International Journal of Methodology and Experimental Psychology, 26 (2005) 2, S.229-241 (13 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0211-2159
Schlagwörter	Control Groups; Animals; Classical Conditioning; Recreational Facilities; Language Acquisition; Experiments; Reinforcement; Spatial Ability; Error Correction; Navigation; Cognitive Mapping; Stimuli; Associative Learning; Learning Theories; Statistical Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Animal; Tier; Tiere; Freizeiteinrichtung; Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Erprobung; Positive Verstärkung; Räumliches Vorstellungsvermögen; Korrektur; Anreizsystem; Learning theory; Lerntheorie; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	Rodrigo, Chamizo, McLaren, & Mackintosh (1997) demonstrated the blocking effect in a navigational task using a swimming pool: rats initially trained to use three landmarks (ABC) to find an invisible platform learned less about a fourth landmark (X) added later than did rats trained from the outset with these four landmarks (ABCX). The aim of the experiment reported here was to demonstrate unblocking using a similar procedure as in the previous work. Three groups of rats were initially trained to find an invisible platform in the presence of three landmarks: ABC for the Blocking and Unblocking groups and LMN for the Control group. Then, all animals were trained to find the platform in the presence of four landmarks, ABCX. In this second training, unlike animals in the Blocking group to which only a new landmark (X) was added in comparison to the first training, the animals in the Unblocking group also had a change in the platform position. In the Control group, both the four landmarks and the platform position were totally new at the beginning of this second training. As in Rodrigo et al. (1997) a blocking effect was found: rats in the Blocking group learned less with respect to the added landmark (X) than did animals in the Control group. However, rats in the Unblocking group learned about the added landmark (X) as well as did animals in the Control group. The results are interpreted as an unblocking effect due to a change in the platform position between the two phases of training, similarly to what is normal in classical conditioning experiments, in which a change in the conditions of reinforcement between the two training phases of a blocking design produce an attenuation or elimination of this effect. These results are explained within an error-correcting connectionist account of spatial navigation (McLaren, 2002). (Contains 2 figures.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Valencia. Dept. Metodologia, Facultad de Psicologia, Avda. Blasco Ibanez 21, 46010 Valencia, Spain. Tel: +34-96-386-4100; Web site: http://www.uv.es/revispsi/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10