Second-order conditioning with food unconditioned stimulus

3 experiments investigating 2nd-order conditioning were conducted with a total of 72 male Sprague-Dawley rats. An appetitive Pavlovian conditioning situation was employed in which the response measure was the amount of general activity. Exp I provided a well-controlled demonstration of substantial 2nd-order conditioning. In Exp II extinction of the 1st-order conditioned stimulus (CS) had no effect upon the response to the 2nd-order CS. Exp III examined the relationship of the 2nd-order conditioning paradigm to that of conditioned inhibition. Both phenomena could be observed simultaneously in the same setting. Implications for 2nd-order conditioning and related conditioning phenomena are discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).