The Properties of Alternation of Conditioned Reflexes in Dogs.

In the broadest sense of the word alternation refers to any experimental procedure in which one stimulus elicits different responses depending on the ordinal number of the trial. The simplest form of alternation , which may be called " simple alternation'', is that in which a conditioned stimulus (CS) alternately signals either reinforcement or nonreinforcement in successive trials (i.e., + — type alternation). In more complex forms of alternation the schedule mav bp more complicated, as type of alter-ioning many years t in dogs not only lex form in which itive trial (U s i e-the procedure of different positive schedule (M i s h-used in the study ^ ^^numui i^oivjua in tins lauoraiory (Brutkowski et al. 1956, Brutkowski 1957, 1959, Ł a wick a 1957, Szwej-ków s k a, in preparation), it was decided to analyze the mechanism of this sort of conditioning by examining some of its properties. The present paper is concerned with this subject.