Latent inhibition (LI), a phenomenon that reflects an outcome from the processing of irrelevant stimuli, has been of interest to the research community for five decades. And, if anything, its appeal and influence is growing. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the first LI experiment, we asked a number of leading scientists to contribute chapters to a volume that would cover the broadest possible range of recent developments in LI research and theory.

Amongst other things, we were interested in showing how a simple behavioral experiment conducted so very many years ago on sheep and goats has led to a burgeoning research enterprise that has enlisted many neuroscience disciplines, including those in physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, and genetics, and has branched out from academic concerns with learning theory to theoretical interests and applications related to schizophrenia. Unfortunately, many people working in research-specific areas find it difficult to keep abreast of the broad cross-disciplinary advances in LI, often directly relevant to their own interests. As an example, there is considerable research on the pharmacological, molecular, and cellular mechanisms underlying LI, and LI is a popular paradigm for studying the neurobiological basis of schizophrenia. However, many of the neuroscientists in this field are unaware of the cognitive/information processing theories underlying the LI effect. The opposite is also true; behavioral/cognitive theorists are often uninformed about advances in the neurophysiology of LI. The present volume provides these researchers with a comprehensive survey of current LI research and theory, from genetics to behavior, thereby strengthening the particularist approach to research as well as fostering an interdisciplinary methodology.