Effects of CS and UCS relationships on electrodermal response and heart rate.

Abstract

The effects of 4 CS-UCS conditions upon physiological responses were studied. The conditions were forward conditioning, backward conditioning, UCS-alone, and unpaired CS and UCS. 6 test, 42 "conditioning," and 4 extinction trials were given. Analysis of variance was carried out for 3 measures of electrodermal response (EDR) and 4 measures of heart rate. Significant group differences for EDR amplitude were found on test and extinction trials. The UCS-alone and forward-conditioning groups had higher amplitudes during conditioning. During extinction the forward-conditioning group continued to exhibit higher amplitude. The findings for 3 conditions were accounted for by orienting-response theory, but those for forward conditioning did not conform to this theory.