Effect of Relative Stimulus Validity: Learning or Performance Deficit?

This research examined whether the effect of relative stimulus validity (A.R. Wagner, F.A. Logan, K. Haberlandt, & T. Price, 1968) is a deficit of acquisition or performance. Experiment 1 demonstrated the relative validity effect using rats in a conditioned lick suppression task. A target cue trained in the presence of another cue that was a more valid predictor of reinforcement exhibited less behavioral control than a target cue that had been trained in the presence of an equally valid predictor of reinforcement. In Experiment 2, the more valid predictor was extinguished after training. This manipulation increased responding to the target cue, thereby attenuating the effect of low relative validity. This outcome suggests that the relative validity effect is a performance deficit. In addition, recovery from the relative validity deficit was specific to the particular target stimulus that was trained in the presence of the subsequently extinguished cue.