Kamin blocking effect (KBE) on human learning based on contiguity of repeated classical conditioning (CS-US)
University of New South Wales

Abstract

The Kamin blocking effect is the idea that temporal contiguity and repeated contingency of CS-US pairing is enough to cause a conditioning, especially if the US is unexpected. This study investigates whether the blocking effect (which was observed in rats) is also present in humans. Participants were presented with images of food pairing. Subjects must predict whether the food pairings will cause an allergic reaction. The results suggest that participants who were pre-exposed with repeated conditional and unconditional stimulus (CS-US->CR) will show low levels of blocking in contrast …show more content…
Furthermore, experiments conducted on animal subjects are non-verbal. In contrast to this, humans are given verbal assistance to measure the dependent variable with human subjects (Annau and Kamin, 1961). This experiment will be using human participants to observe ‘Kamin’s blocking effect’(KBE) on learning in humans. The blocking effect on human subjects will provide scientists and researcher’s a new understanding on how to detect mental disorders at an early stage. The experiment could give researchers a greater understanding of the influence of blocking/extinction in human behaviour; and its impact on treating phobias and post- traumatic …show more content…
The aim of this research is to investigate whether the ‘blocking effect’ that was originally observed with rats can also be present in humans. Participants were divided into two congruent groups (the experimental and control groups) and allocated to a computer were they must imagine that they are a doctor that must predict whether an allergic reaction will occur between food 1 and food 2 by clicking a corresponding box to lock in an answer. Student’s results were analysed based on the probability ratio that food 2 caused an allergic reaction. The experiment was configured into 3 stages and 8 trials for every stage. It is hypothesised that repeated conditional and unconditional stimulus (CS-US) pairing will cause a lower level of probability rating than unexpected CS-US pairing in human subjects based on the