Behavioral determinants in the expression of the Kamin blocking effect: Implications for associative learning theory. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aggarwal, Mayank; Wickens, Jeffery R.
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. Volume 124(2021)
• Page Start: 16
• Page End: 34
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Kamin blocking -- Classical conditioning -- Sign and goal tracking -- Dopamine -- Reward prediction error -- Associative learning theory -- Parallel learning processes; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Human behavior -- Periodicals; Animal behavior -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Ethology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiologie -- Périodiques; Comportement humain -- Périodiques; Animaux -- Mœurs et comportement -- Périodiques; Neurologie -- Périodiques; Animal behavior; Human behavior; Neurology; Psychophysiology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 573.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.01.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0149-7634

Abstract

Highlights: Sign trackers express Kamin blocking. Expression of blocking in goal trackers requires further investigation due to divergent findings. Use of diffuse cues to establish goal tracking confounds interpretation. Localized cues should be used to differentiate sign and goal tracking behavior. A Konorskian like framework, with interacting parallel processes, explains differences between sign and goal trackers. Abstract: Associative learning makes important contributions to our behavior and decisions. The Kamin blocking effect is an associative learning phenomenon that plays a central role in understanding of the psychological principles underlying associative learning. However, several recent failures to replicate the blocking effect suggest that the conditions necessary for blocking are poorly understood. To understand the conditions necessary for blocking, here we review studies into the expression of blocking in subjects that either approach and interact with the conditioned cue (sign trackers) or approach and interact with the reward location (goal trackers) during appetitive classical conditioning. Psychological theory and the neurophysiological correlates of appetitive classical conditioning make opposing predictions regarding the expression of blocking in sign and goal trackers. We reconcile these opposing predictions in a qualitative model using two parallel learning processes. Such models offer a better framework for understanding the psychological associative structures acquired during learning, their interactions contributing to the conditioned response, and how they affect subsequent learning and the expression of the Kamin blocking effect.