Spontaneous recovery from the effect of relative stimulus validity

Acquisition-failure theories and expression-failure theories of conditioning provide divergent explanations of cue competition effects. The present research examined the underlying basis of the effect of relative stimulus validity through a procedure that has sometimes revealed latent associations in other cue competition situations. In Experiment 1, a long retention interval (21 days) was inserted between relative validity training and subsequent testing, and what could be interpreted as a spontaneous recovery from the relative validity effect was observed. However, the behavioral recovery observed in Experiment 1 was also explicable in terms of differences in stimulus generalization. Experiment 2 evaluated this alternative explanation of Experiment 1 and found it wanting. The results are discussed in the framework of acquisition-failure and expression-failure theories of cue competition.