Stimulus overselectivity describes strong control by one stimulus element at the expense of other equally relevant elements. Research suggests that control by underselected stimuli emerges following extinction of the overselected stimulus (“revaluation”) and the emergence is larger when overselectivity is greater. We compared such revaluation effects with a control compound or condition in two experiments. Human participants chose between compound S+ and S- stimuli. Then, to assess control by compound-stimulus elements, participants chose between individual elements in a testing phase without feedback. The S+ element chosen most often (the overselected element) underwent revaluation, during which choice of that element was extinguished and choice of a novel element reinforced. Thereafter, participants completed a retesting phase. Revaluation reduced choice of the overselected element. Choice of the underselected element decreased for participants with low overselectivity but increased for participants with high overselectivity. This was not the case for a control compound that did not undergo revaluation (Experiments 1 and 2) or in a control condition in which the overselected element continued to be reinforced during revaluation (Experiment 2). These findings suggest that overselectivity levels may modulate revaluation effects, and they also highlight the importance of the contingency change in postrevaluation changes in stimulus control.

中文翻译：

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重估过度选择的刺激：选择不足的刺激的控制的出现取决于过度选择的程度

刺激过度选择性描述了一种刺激元素的强烈控制，而牺牲了其他同样相关的元素。研究表明，在过度选择的刺激消失（“重估”）之后，就会出现对选择不足的刺激的控制，并且当过度选择越大时，这种控制的出现就越大。我们在两个实验中将这种重估效应与对照化合物或条件进行了比较。人类参与者在复合 S+ 和 S- 刺激之间进行选择。然后，为了评估复合刺激元素的控制，参与者在测试阶段在没有反馈的情况下在各个元素之间进行选择。最常选择的 S+ 元素（过度选择的元素）经历了重新评估，在此期间该元素的选择被消除，而新元素的选择得到加强。此后，参与者完成了重新测试阶段。重估减少了过度选择元素的选择。对于低过度选择性的参与者，未充分选择的元素的选择减少，但对于高过度选择性的参与者，选择不足的元素增加。对于未进行重估的对照化合物（实验 1 和 2）或在重估过程中过度选择的元素继续得到增强的对照条件（实验 2），情况并非如此。这些发现表明，过度选择性水平可能会调节重估效应，并且它们还强调了刺激控制中重估后变化中的应急变化的重要性。