Avoidance learning to the onset and cessation of conditioned stimulus energy.

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Abstract
Four experiments involving 72 albino rats in wheel-turning electric shock avoidance learning were performed to explore the effectiveness of 2 types of stimulus: the onset of stimulus energy and the cessation of stimulus energy. Experiment I contrasted the effectiveness of a light coming on and a light going off as stimuli. The light going off led to significantly inferior learning. Experiment II contrasted the effectiveness of a buzzer coming on and a buzzer going off as stimuli. Similarly, significantly inferior learning was found in the buzzer-off condition. Experiment III tested the effect of interstimulus time upon the effectiveness of the light-on and light-off types of stimulus. Beyond the usual enhancement of learning at the shorter CS-UCS time intervals, no evidence of a differential enhancement of learning with one stimulus mode over the other was found. The light-off condition still led to inferior learning. Experiment IV tested the effect upon the 2 modes of stimulation of a low and high level of shock intensity. A significant interaction was shown to exist between the stimulus variables and the shock variables. Learning under the light-off condition was significantly enhanced by a decrease in shock intensity. The results were discussed with reference to their bearing upon 2 hypotheses concerning the physical nature of functional stimulation: the hypothesis that physical energy change is the important element in stimulation and the hypothesis that the important element is in physical events at the time of reinforcement. Most of the evidence presented here appeared to favor the latter interpretation.
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