The course of acquisition and retention of conditioned eyelid responses in man.

Abstract

Eyelid reactions are reported from 51 subjects conditioned on two successive days and reconditioned after intervals of 1 day, 1 week, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 20 weeks, each subject serving at one interval. The course of acquisition of the conditioned responses was studied on the basis of average amplitude of response within successive 10-trial series throughout conditioning. The acquisition curve is typically S-form, positively accelerated at first, becoming negatively accelerated, and dropping off after a maximum point is reached. Subjects differ greatly in the duration of the phase of positive acceleration. While the form of the curve of retention cannot be described accurately from the data of the present study, the results indicate unequivocally that conditioned responses may be retained at approximately full amplitude values for periods of time up to 20 weeks, the longest interval tested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)