Latent Inhibition

Latent inhibition is a phenomenon by which exposure to an irrelevant stimulus impedes the acquisition or expression of conditioned associations with that stimulus. Latent inhibition, an integral part of the learning process, is observed in many species. This comprehensive collection of studies of latent inhibition, from a variety of disciplines including behavioural/cognitive psychology, neuroscience and genetics, focuses on abnormal latent inhibition effects in schizophrenic patients and schizotypal normals. Amongst other things, the book addresses questions such as, is latent inhibition an acquisition or performance deficit? What is the relationship of latent inhibition to habituation, extinction, and learned irrelevance? Does reduced latent inhibition predict creativity? What are the neural substrates, pharmacology, and genetics of latent inhibition? What do latent inhibition research and theories tell us about schizophrenia? This book provides a single point of reference for neuroscience researchers, graduate students, and professionals, such as psychologists and psychiatrists.

Author: Robert Lubow
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 05/06/2010
Pages: 576
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.82lbs
Size: 9.80h x 6.90w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780521517331

About the Author
Lubow, Robert: - R. E. Lubow was born in the Bronx, New York. He completed his BA at University Heights College of New York University, MS at Washington State University, and PhD at Cornell University. After several years at General Electric in Ithaca, N.Y, where he established their Bionic unit, he received a Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and moved to North Carolina State University where he continued a basic research program that he had begun as a graduate student with his discovery of the latent inhibition effect. Since 1971, he has been at Tel Aviv University in Israel. His research and theoretical interests focus on normal attentional processes in animal and human learning, and on their disruption as a result of psychopathology, particularly in schizophrenia. He has been the recipient of numerous research grants, and has published over 100 articles and chapters and two books. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science.