Backward conditioned eyelid reactions.

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Abstract
The present experiment shows that a connection between an auditory stimulus and an eyelid reaction is generally not formed when the auditory stimulus comes immediately after the eyelid reaction in the C-R training. It is suggested, however, that some kind of conditioning may have occurred, because the presence or absence of the eyelid stimulus and response made a difference in the apparent intensity of the auditory stimulus and response. Thus subjects reported that the sound occurring alone seemed weaker than the sound immediately preceded by an eyelid reaction, although the physical sound was the same on the two occasions. The auditory response was apparently conditioned to the organic pattern of the preceding eyelid reaction; the eyelid reaction seems to have acquired the ability to increase the intensity of the immediately following auditory response. Another possible explanation is that before the C-R training began, a reflex connection existed between the facial pattern of the eyelid reaction and the tension of the muscles in the middle ears. If this explanation is correct then it is probable that no noticeable conditioning of any kind occurred in the present experiment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

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