ERIC Number: EJ878523
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Mar
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Do Reaction Times in the Perruchet Effect Reflect Variations in the Strength of an Associative Link?
Mitchell, Chris J.; Wardle, Susan G.; Lovibond, Peter F.; Weidemann, Gabrielle; Chang, Betty P. I.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v36 n2 p567-572 Mar 2010
In 3 experiments, we examined Perruchet, Cleeremans, and Destrebecqz's (2006) double dissociation of cued reaction time (RT) and target expectancy. In this design, participants receive a tone on every trial and are required to respond as quickly as possible to a square presented on 50% of those trials (a partial reinforcement schedule). Participants are faster to respond to the square following many recent tone-square pairings and slower to respond following many tone-alone presentations. Of importance, expectancy of the square is highest when performance on the RT task is poorest--following many tone-alone trials. This finding suggests that RT performance is determined by the strength of a tone-square link and that this link is the product of a non-expectancy-based learning mechanism. The present experiments, however, provide evidence that the speeded RTs are not the consequence of the strengthening and weakening of a tone-square link. Thus, the RT Perruchet effect does not provide evidence for a non-expectancy-based link-formation mechanism. (Contains 4 figures.)
Descriptors: Reaction Time, Cues, Task Analysis, Associative Learning, Undergraduate Students, Foreign Countries, Psychology, Reinforcement, Auditory Stimuli
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A