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Retardation of Discrimination Learning in Monkeys and Chicks Previously Exposed to Both Stimuli

Abstract

WHEN animals are exposed to a pattern of stimulation they often learn its characteristics even though they are not rewarded for doing so1. This has been demonstrated in rats and chicks by subsequently using familiar patterns as cues in a food-rewarded discrimination2–8. Usually perceptual experience makes subsequent discriminations easier for the animal. We now report that discriminations between two objects can become more difficult for an animal after it has been exposed to both of them.

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BATESON, P., CHANTREY, D. Retardation of Discrimination Learning in Monkeys and Chicks Previously Exposed to Both Stimuli. Nature 237, 173–174 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/237173a0

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