The effects of overtraining and successive extinctions upon nictitating membrane conditioning in the rabbit

In Expt. I Group SAE (N = 16) received four successive acquisitions and extinctions of a classically conditioned nictitating membrane response while Group OTC (N = 8) received an equivalent amount of acquisition training followed by a single extinction session. Successive extinctions resulted in a decrease in resistance to extinction (Rn), but extended acquisition training had no significant effect. In Expt. II a total of 96 subjects participated in a factorial study of the effects of various amounts of overtraining at two different UCS intensities. When CR amplitude was asymptotic extended training had no significant effect upon Rn; when amplitude was below asymptote Rn was correspondingly reduced.