Source Paper
Neurotoxic Lesions of Basolateral, But Not Central, Amygdala Interfere with Pavlovian Second-Order Conditioning and Reinforcer Devaluation Effects
Tammy Hatfield, Jung-Soo Han, Michael Conley, Michela Gallagher, Peter Holland
Journal of Neuroscience • 1996
Reinforcer Devaluation
Objective: To assess whether rats can adjust their conditioned responses to current reinforcer value after postconditioning changes in reinforcer value, testing the role of basolateral amygdala in reinforcer devaluation effects
Protocol Steps
Initial Pavlovian Conditioning
Rats first received light-food pairings intended to endow the light with reinforcing power through classical conditioning
Note: This establishes the light as a conditioned stimulus with positive incentive value
View evidence from paper
“rats first received light–food pairings intended to endow the light with reinforcing power”
Reinforcer Devaluation Test
Conditioned responding was tested after postconditioning changes in reinforcer value to assess whether rats could adjust their conditioned responses to current reinforcer value
Note: This procedure measures whether the conditioned response (CR) is sensitive to changes in the value of the reinforcer
View evidence from paper
“Conditioned responding was tested after postconditioning changes in reinforcer value to assess whether rats could adjust their conditioned responses to current reinforcer value”
Measurement of Conditioned Response Adjustment
Rats with CN lesions, like normal rats, were able to spontaneously adjust their CRs to the current value of the reinforcer, whereas rats with ABL lesions showed insensitive conditioned responding
Note: The key outcome measure is whether conditioned responding adjusts based on current reinforcer value
View evidence from paper
“rats with CN lesions, like normal rats, were able to spontaneously adjust their CRs to the current value of the reinforcer”