Learning about trial sequences disrupts the partial reinforcement extinction effect in classical conditioning.

The partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE) refers to the phenomenon that conditioned responding extinguishes more slowly if subjects had been inconsistently ("partially") reinforced than if they had been reinforced on every trial ("continuously" reinforced). One largely successful account of the PREE, known as sequential theory (Capaldi, 1966), suggests that, when subjects are partially reinforced, they learn that memories of sequences of nonreinforced trials are associated with subsequent reinforcement. This association helps to maintain responding (i.