Transfer of extinction effects in the rat as a function of habit strength.

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Abstract
640 rats were given different combinations of food-rewarded repetitions on 2 types of bar-pressing habits (horizontal bar and vertical bar). Training was always on the horizontal bar first. Extinction was sometimes first in one habit, sometimes in the other. The conditions of the expt. were so arranged that it was possible to learn the effect of generalized extinction on each habit. In all groups there is a reliable decrement in one habit following the extinction of the other. The amt. of this decrement varies with the strength of both habits but depends more upon the strength of the habit in which it occurred. Multiple regression equations and correlational surfaces are used to present the relationships. Better prediction of the decrement is obtained from the use of the extinctive strengths of the habits (measured by number of extinct responses or extinction time) than from the use of the original number of reinforcements. The data are discussed in relation to Hull''s theory of learning. Both agreements and disagreements are found.