Overtraining and reversal learning by cats and rhesus monkeys.

Abstract

Effects of 0, 50, 100, and 200 overtraining trails upon subsequent reversal learning were investigated in 3 experiments with experimentally sophisticated Ss[subjects]. 8 cats were trained on simultaneous discriminations, and 8 cats and 14 monkeys on successive discriminations. Overtraining retarded reversal learning in all 3 experiments; retardation resulting from overtraining was statistically significant in experiments with cats trained on simultaneous problems and with monkeys. These findings are incompatible with predictions derived from attention theory.