| Abstract: | The PAN ambiguous-cue problem consists of three stimuli: P, the positive (consistently rewarded) cue; N, the negative (consistently nonrewarded) cue; and A, the ambiguous cue which is negative (nonrewarded) when paired with P, but positive (rewarded) when paired with N. This paper demonstrates how the finding of superior performance on the NA trials as compared to the PA trials (with stereometric objects) can be rigorously derived from a recent extension of Hull-Spence discrimination learning theory, the Stimulus Interaction Hypothesis. It is also shown how this theory can account for the converse outcome of better performance on PA than on NA trials when planometric plaques are used as stimuli. Finally, alternative explanations of the findings are described and evaluated. |
