Extinction reduces the generalization of context-dependent behavior

Abstract

In the Extinction Makes Acquisition Context-Specific (EMACS) effect, new learning acquired during extinction becomes increasingly dependent on the extinction context. The present study examined whether extinction modifies the behavioral generalization of contextual control and whether these changes are accompanied by alterations in overt attentional allocation measured through eye tracking. Sixteen university students were assigned to either an Extinction Group (EG) or a Non-Extinction Group (NEG). During Acquisition Phase, all participants learned to destroy an airplane by selecting the appropriate weapon in context X. During the Extinction/ Non-Extinction Phase, the original association was extinguished in the EG but maintained in the NEG, while both groups acquired a new stimulus–response relation. During Test Phase conducted without reinforcement across five systematic variations of the extinction context, participants in the EG exhibited a statistically reliable behavioral generalization gradient, whereas the NEG showed a shallower gradient that did not vary significantly across contextual changes. Eye-tracking measures revealed greater gaze allocation toward contextual cues in the EG than in the NEG, although gaze fixations did not vary systematically across contextual variations. Together, the behavioral and eye-tracking findings support attentional accounts of contextual learning by suggesting that extinction enhances the contribution of contextual information during retrieval while increasing overt contextual monitoring.