The State of Transfer of Stimulus Control After Extinction in Human Instrumental Conditioning: A Key Factor in Therapy Strategies Based in Nonhuman Animal Research

• Published in: Canadian journal of experimental psychology Vol. 74; no. 3; pp. 252 - 259
• Main Authors: Gámez, A. Matías, León, Samuel P., Moreno-Fernández, M. Manuela, Rosas, Juan M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ottawa Educational Publishing Foundation 01.09.2020; Canadian Psychological Association
• Subjects: Animal; Animal Learning; Animal research; Animals; Behavior modification; Conditioned Stimulus; Experiments; Extinction; Extinction (Learning); Female; Human; Male; Operant Conditioning; Therapeutic Processes; Training; Transfer (Learning); contents of learning; dissociations; extinction; test de transfert; transfer test; human instrumental conditioning; conditionnement instrumental humain; contenu d'apprentissage
• ISBN: 1433894092; 9781433894091
• ISSN: 1196-1961; 1878-7290; 1878-7290
• DOI: 10.1037/cep0000220

Previous research has shown that instrumental training can encourage the formation of binary associations between the representations of the elements present at the time of learning, that is, between the discriminative stimulus and the instrumental response (the S-R association), between the stimulus and outcome (the S-O association), and between the response and outcome (the R-O association). Studies with rats have used transfer procedures to explore the effects of discriminative extinction (i.e., extinction that is carried out in the presence of the discriminative stimuli) on these three binary associations. Thus, a reduction in the response rate of the extinguished response (R) can be detected in situations involving a different discriminative stimulus that was associated with the same outcome, and to unextinguished responses controlled by the discriminative stimulus (S) and associated with the outcome (O). These transfer effects suggest that R-O and S-O associations remain active after extinction in nonhuman animals. We carried out an experiment to explore these postextinction transfer effects in humans using a within-subject design. Contrary to nonhuman reports, the S-O association was affected by discriminative extinction, suggesting differences in the associative structure of instrumental conditioning in human and nonhuman animals that should be considered by those therapeutic strategies based in nonhuman animal research aimed to reduce unhealthy instrumental behaviours in human beings. Des recherches antérieures ont montré que la formation instrumentale peut favoriser la formation d'associations binaires entre les représentations des éléments présents au moment de l'apprentissage, c'est-à-dire entre le stimulus discriminatoire et la réponse instrumentale (l'association S-R), entre le stimulus et le résultat (l'association S-O), et entre la réponse et le résultat (l'association R-O). Les études menées auprès de rats ont utilisé des procédures de transfert pour explorer les effets de l'extinction discriminatoire (c.-à-d., une extinction qui est réalisée en présence des stimuli discriminatoires) sur ces trois associations binaires. Ainsi, une réduction du taux de réponse de la réponse éteinte (R) peut être détectée dans des situations comportant un autre stimulus discriminatoire associé au même résultat, et des réponses non éteintes contrôlées par le stimulus de discrimination (S) et associées au résultat (O). Ces effets de transfert suggèrent que les associations R-O et S-O demeurent actives après l'extinction chez les animaux non humains. Nous avons mené une expérience pour explorer ces effets de transfert post-extinction chez l'homme en utilisant une conception intra-sujet. Contrairement aux rapports non humains, l'association S-O a été affectée par l'extinction discriminatoire, suggérant des différences dans la structure associative du conditionnement instrumental chez les animaux humains et non humains qui devraient être prises en compte par ces stratégies thérapeutiques basées sur la recherche sur les animaux non humains visant à réduire les comportements instrumentaux malsains chez l'être humain. Public Significance Statement Animal research has shown that when a response stops being followed by an outcome (i.e., when it is extinguished), the underlying associations that maintained that response remain active. The experiment presented here reveals that extinction of human voluntary responding may be an exception to this general rule, a result that is quite relevant from a clinical point of view, as most psychological treatments involve some form of extinction.