In one experiment with rats, we examined whether positive affective states can serve as contexts in a between-subjects ABA renewal design using appetitive instrumental conditioning. Two groups of rats received training to press a lever for food where each acquisition session was preceded by administration of a tickling procedure (Context A) known to induce positive affective states. Then, lever pressing underwent extinction where rats received a pure handling treatment (Context B) before each session. During a final test session, we found stronger responding when the session was preceded by tickling (Group ABA) compared to handling (Group ABB), indicating an ABA renewal effect. Furthermore, test performance in Group ABB was not different from that in a third group where handling preceded acquisition sessions, and tickling extinction and test sessions (Group BAA), showing that tickling did not elevate instrumental responding during the test if it had been unrelated to initial acquisition. We discuss implications of our results for understanding the role of positive affective states in relapse of problem behavior.

在一项针对大鼠的实验中，我们检查了积极的情感状态是否可以用作使用竞争性工具条件的受试者之间ABA更新设计的背景。两组大鼠接受了训练以压下食物杠杆，在每个获取过程之前都要进行已知会诱发积极情感状态的胳肢程序（情境A）。然后，杠杆压入灭绝，大鼠在每次治疗前接受纯净的处理（上下文B）。在最后的测试过程中，我们发现在进行挠痒（ABA组）之前，与处理（ABB组）相比，响应更强，表明ABA的更新效果。此外，ABB组的测试性能与在获取会话之前进行处理的第三组没有什么不同，以及挠性消光和测试会议（BAA组），表明挠性如果与最初的采集无关，则不会提高测试过程中的仪器响应。我们讨论了结果的含义，以了解积极的情感状态在问题行为复发中的作用。