Higher-order pavlovian fear conditioning

Abstract

Higher-order conditioning is a set of operations by which, a neutral stimulus (S) is paired with a conditioned stimulus (CS) in a classical conditioning paradigm. It is assumed that, through such pairing, the neutral stimulus will acquire the capacity to elicit similar responses to those elicited by the CS. There are several levels of higher-order conditioning and all these must be preceded by first-order conditioning. First-order conditioning involves the pairing of a neutral stimulus (S1) with an unconditional stimulus (UCS) in a classical conditioning paradigm. Thus S1 becomes CS1. The first level of higher-order conditioning is known as second-order conditioning, and involves the pairing of a neutral stimulus (S2) with CS1, to create CS2. Third-order conditioning involves the pairing of another neutral stimulus (S3) with CS2, thus creating CS3. A few attempts have been made to gain even higher levels of conditioning using similar operations (Pavlov 1927; Hilgard and Marquis 1961).