Second-order conditioning using a contextual stimulus as S 1

Abstract

Three experiments investigated the question of whether a spatial stimulus, a context, could function as S 1 in a second-order conditioning procedure. In each experiment, rat subjects were presented with S 1-US pairings by being given footshocks in one of two contexts. Forty-eight hours later, the experimental groups received S 2-S 1 pairings, during which a tone was presented in the training context. As measured by a lick-suppression test administered in a third context, rats were more fearful of the tone if it occurred in the context in which they had previously been shocked. The training context in each experiment apparently served to establish second-order fear conditioning to the tone. © 1983 Psychonomic Society, Inc.