REINFORCEMENT AS CONSOLIDATION

Presents a theory of the nature of reinforcement. It assumes that learning is essentially by contiguity, but that a hyperexcitable state exists in the nervous system following an experience, such that an ordinarily insufficient stimulus can reexcite all or part of the cells involved in a just prior learning experience. This reexcitation in turn generates additional consolidation and thus strengthens learning. The theory thus explains the retroactive effect of operant reinforcement. Coupled with an assumption of nonadditivity of 2 temporally overlapping consolidation processes, the theory predicts certain phenomena of temporal gradients of reinforcement. The predictions compare favorably with data. (33 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.