Concept and rule utilization in the acquisition of an electrodermal response.

Abstract

Investigated whether an anticipatory electrodermal response (EDR) could be transferred from previously shocked stimuli to physically dissimilar but conceptually related stimuli. 76 undergraduates were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions. All Ss 1st learned to sort visual stimuli on the basis of 2 complementary rules (biconditional and exclusive disjunctive). Ss in the 2 experimental conditions received shock contingent upon presentation of stimuli representing only the biconditional concept. Controls received either noncontingent shock or no shock. It was found that anticipatory EDRs to stimuli representing the biconditional concept were generally greater than to stimuli representing the exclusive disjunctive concept in the 2 experimental conditions. There were no differences in the 2 control conditions. Stimulus novelty, stimulus generalization, and prior experience were ruled out as factors accounting for these results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)