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Author Neuringer, A.
Title Reinforced variability in animals and people: implications for adaptive action Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication The American Psychologist Abbreviated Journal Am Psychol
Volume 59 Issue (down) 9 Pages 891-906
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal; *Choice Behavior; Conditioning, Operant; Creativeness; Discrimination (Psychology); Humans; Memory; Problem Solving; *Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract Although reinforcement often leads to repetitive, even stereotyped responding, that is not a necessary outcome. When it depends on variations, reinforcement results in responding that is diverse, novel, indeed unpredictable, with distributions sometimes approaching those of a random process. This article reviews evidence for the powerful and precise control by reinforcement over behavioral variability, evidence obtained from human and animal-model studies, and implications of such control. For example, reinforcement of variability facilitates learning of complex new responses, aids problem solving, and may contribute to creativity. Depression and autism are characterized by abnormally repetitive behaviors, but individuals afflicted with such psychopathologies can learn to vary their behaviors when reinforced for so doing. And reinforced variability may help to solve a basic puzzle concerning the nature of voluntary action.
Address Department of Psychology, Reed College, Portland, OR 97202, USA. allen.neuringer@reed.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0003-066X ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15584823 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4106
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Author Blokland, A.
Title Reaction time responding in rats Type Journal Article
Year 1998 Publication Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Abbreviated Journal Neurosci Biobehav Rev
Volume 22 Issue (down) 6 Pages 847-864
Keywords Amphetamine/pharmacology; Animals; Behavior, Animal/drug effects/*physiology; Conditioning, Operant/drug effects/*physiology; Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors/pharmacology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Male; Rats; Rats, Inbred Lew; Reaction Time/drug effects/*physiology
Abstract The use of reaction time has a great tradition in the field of human information processing research. In animal research the use of reaction time test paradigms is mainly limited to two research fields: the role of the striatum in movement initiation; and aging. It was discussed that reaction time responding can be regarded as “single behavior”, this term was used to indicate that only one behavioral category is measured, allowing a better analysis of brain-behavior relationships. Reaction time studies investigating the role of the striatum in motor functions revealed that the initiation of a behavioral response is dependent on the interaction of different neurotransmitters (viz. dopamine, glutamate, GABA). Studies in which lesions were made in different brain structures suggested that motor initiation is dependent on defined brain structures (e.g. medialldorsal striatum, prefrontal cortex). It was concluded that the use of reaction time measures can indeed be a powerful tool in studying brain-behavior relationships. However, there are some methodological constraints with respect to the assessment of reaction time in rats, as was tried to exemplify by the experiments described in the present paper. On the one hand one should try to control for behavioral characteristics of rats that may affect the validity of the parameter reaction time. On the other hand, the mean value of reaction time should be in the range of what has been reported in man. Although these criteria were not always met in several studies, it was concluded that reaction time can be validly assessed in rats. Finally, it was discussed that the use of reaction time may go beyond studies that investigate the role of the basal ganglia in motor output. Since response latency is a direct measure of information processing this parameter may provide insight into basic elements of cognition. Based on the significance of reaction times in human studies the use of this dependent variable in rats may provide a fruitful approach in studying brain-behavior relationships in cognitive functions.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0149-7634 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:9809315 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2807
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Author Dreier, S.; van Zweden, J.S.; D'Ettorre, P.
Title Long-term memory of individual identity in ant queens Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Biology Letters Abbreviated Journal Biol Lett
Volume 3 Issue (down) 5 Pages 459-462
Keywords Aggression; Animals; Ants/*physiology; Conditioning, Operant; Evolution; Female; *Memory; *Recognition (Psychology); Social Dominance
Abstract Remembering individual identities is part of our own everyday social life. Surprisingly, this ability has recently been shown in two social insects. While paper wasps recognize each other individually through their facial markings, the ant, Pachycondyla villosa, uses chemical cues. In both species, individual recognition is adaptive since it facilitates the maintenance of stable dominance hierarchies among individuals, and thus reduces the cost of conflict within these small societies. Here, we investigated individual recognition in Pachycondyla ants by quantifying the level of aggression between pairs of familiar or unfamiliar queens over time. We show that unrelated founding queens of P. villosa and Pachycondyla inversa store information on the individual identity of other queens and can retrieve it from memory after 24h of separation. Thus, we have documented for the first time that long-term memory of individual identity is present and functional in ants. This novel finding represents an advance in our understanding of the mechanism determining the evolution of cooperation among unrelated individuals.
Address Institute of Biology, Department of Population Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. sdreier@bi.ku.dk
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1744-9561 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17594958 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4649
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Author Kaiser, D.H.; Zentall, T.R.; Neiman, E.
Title Timing in pigeons: effects of the similarity between intertrial interval and gap in a timing signal Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume 28 Issue (down) 4 Pages 416-422
Keywords Animals; *Attention; Columbidae; *Conditioning, Operant; Discrimination Learning; Mental Recall; Probability Learning; *Reinforcement (Psychology); *Reinforcement Schedule; Retention (Psychology); Time Factors; *Time Perception/physiology
Abstract Previous research suggests that when a fixed interval is interrupted (known as the gap procedure), pigeons tend to reset memory and start timing from 0 after the gap. However, because the ambient conditions of the gap typically have been the same as during the intertrial interval (ITI), ambiguity may have resulted. In the present experiment, the authors found that when ambient conditions during the gap were similar to the ITI, pigeons tended to reset memory, but when ambient conditions during the gap were different from the ITI, pigeons tended to stop timing, retain the duration of the stimulus in memory, and add to that time when the stimulus reappeared. Thus, when the gap was unambiguous, pigeons timed accurately.
Address Department of Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, USA. kaiserd@mail.ecu.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12395499 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 238
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Author Nallan, G.B.; Pace, G.M.; McCoy, D.F.; Zentall, T.R.
Title Temporal parameters of the feature positive effect Type Journal Article
Year 1979 Publication The American journal of psychology Abbreviated Journal Am J Psychol
Volume 92 Issue (down) 4 Pages 703-710
Keywords Animals; Columbidae; Conditioning, Operant; *Discrimination Learning; Form Perception; Male; *Time Perception
Abstract Trial duration and intertrial interval duration were parametrically varied between groups of pigeons exposed to a discrimination involving the presence vs. the absence of a dot. Half the groups received the dot as the positive stimulus (feature positive groups) and half the groups received the dot as the negative stimulus (feature negative groups). Faster learning by the feature positive birds (feature positive effect) was found when the trial duration was short (5 sec) regardless of whether the intertrial interval was short (5 sec) or long (30 sec). No evidence for a feature positive effect was found when the trial duration was long (30 sec) regardless of the length of the intertrial interval (30 sec or 180 sec). The results suggest that short trial duration is a necessary condition for the occurrence of the feature positive effect, and neither intertrial interval nor trial duration/intertrial interval ratio are important for its occurrence. The suggestion that mechanisms underlying the feature positive effect and autoshaping might be similar was not supported by the present experiment since the trial duration/intertrial interval ration parameter appears to play an important role in autoshaping but not the feature positive effect.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0002-9556 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:532834 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 269
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Author Skov-Rackette, S.I.; Miller, N.Y.; Shettleworth, S.J.
Title What-where-when memory in pigeons Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes Abbreviated Journal J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process
Volume 32 Issue (down) 4 Pages 345-358
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Conditioning, Operant/physiology; Memory/*physiology; Reinforcement (Psychology); Space Perception/*physiology; Spatial Behavior/physiology; Teaching; Visual Perception/physiology
Abstract The authors report a novel approach to testing episodic-like memory for single events. Pigeons were trained in separate sessions to match the identity of a sample on a touch screen, to match its location, and to report on the length of the retention interval. When these 3 tasks were mixed randomly within sessions, birds were more than 80% correct on each task. However, performance on 2 different tests in succession after each sample was not consistent with an integrated memory for sample location, time, and identity. Experiment 2 tested binding of location and identity memories in 2 different ways. The results were again consistent with independent feature memories. Implications for tests of episodic-like memory are discussed.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0097-7403 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17044738 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 357
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Author Nevin, J.A.; Shettleworth, S.J.
Title An analysis of contrast effects in multiple schedules Type Journal Article
Year 1966 Publication Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav
Volume 9 Issue (down) 4 Pages 305-315
Keywords Animals; Birds; *Conditioning (Psychology); Conditioning, Operant; Discrimination Learning; *Extinction, Psychological; Male; Reaction Time; *Reinforcement (Psychology)
Abstract
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5002 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:5961499 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 392
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Author Shanahan, S.
Title Trailer loading stress in horses: behavioral and physiological effects of nonaversive training (TTEAM) Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science : JAAWS Abbreviated Journal J Appl Anim Welf Sci
Volume 6 Issue (down) 4 Pages 263-274
Keywords Animals; *Conditioning, Operant; *Escape Reaction; Female; Heart Rate; Horses/*psychology; Hydrocortisone/metabolism; Male; Saliva/metabolism; Stress/metabolism/prevention & control/*veterinary; *Transportation
Abstract Resistance in the horse to trailer loading is a common source of stress and injury to horses and their handlers. The objective of this study was to determine whether nonaversive training based on the Tellington-Touch Equine Awareness Method (TTEAM; Tellington-Jones &Bruns, 1988) would decrease loading time and reduce stress during loading for horses with a history of reluctance to load. Ten horses described by their owners as “problem loaders” were subjected to pretraining and posttraining assessments of loading. Each assessment involved two 7-min loading attempts during which heart rate and saliva cortisol were measured. The training consisted of six 30-min sessions over a 2-week period during which the horse and owner participated in basic leading exercises with obstacles simulating aspects of trailering. Assessment showed heart rate and saliva cortisol increased significantly during loading as compared to baseline (p <.001 and p <.05, respectively). Reassessment after training showed a decrease in loading time (p <.02), reduced heart rate during loading (p <.002), and reduced saliva cortisol as compared to pretraining assessments. Seven “good loaders” also were subject to loading assessment for physiological comparison. Increases in heart rate during loading were significantly higher in the good loaders (p <.001). Nonaversive training simulating aspects of loading may effectively reduce loading time and stress during loading for horses with a history of resistance to trailer loading.
Address shanahandvm@yahoo.ca
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1088-8705 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:14965781 Approved no
Call Number Serial 1903
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Author Ferguson, D.L.; Rosales-Ruiz, J.
Title Loading the problem loader: the effects of target training and shaping on trailer-loading behavior of horses Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis Abbreviated Journal J Appl Behav Anal
Volume 34 Issue (down) 4 Pages 409-423
Keywords Animals; *Conditioning, Operant; *Escape Reaction; Female; Horses/*psychology; Reinforcement (Psychology); *Transportation
Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop an effective method for trailer loading horses based on principles of positive reinforcement. Target training and shaping were used to teach trailer-loading behavior to 5 quarter horse mares in a natural setting. All 5 had been trailer loaded before through the use of aversive stimulation. Successive approximations to loading and inappropriate behaviors were the dependent variables. After training a horse to approach a target, the target was moved to various locations inside the trailer. Horses started training on the left side of a two-horse trailer. After a horse was loading on the left side, she was moved to the right side, then to loading half on the right and half on the left. A limited-hold procedure and the presence of a companion horse seemed to facilitate training for 1 horse. Inappropriate behaviors fell to zero immediately after target training, and all the horses successfully completed the shaping sequence. Finally, these effects were observed to generalize to novel conditions (a different trainer and a different trailer).
Address University of North Texas, Denton 76203, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0021-8855 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11800182 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 1915
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Author Topál, J.; Byrne, R.W.; Miklósi, Á.; Csányi, V.
Title Reproducing human actions and action sequences: “Do as I Do!” in a dog Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 9 Issue (down) 4 Pages 355-367
Keywords Animals; *Comprehension; Conditioning, Operant; *Discrimination Learning; Dogs/*psychology; Humans; *Imitative Behavior; Male; *Serial Learning
Abstract We present evidence that a dog (Philip, a 4-year-old tervueren) was able to use different human actions as samples against which to match his own behaviour. First, Philip was trained to repeat nine human-demonstrated actions on command ('Do it!'). When his performance was markedly over chance in response to demonstration by one person, testing with untrained action sequences and other demonstrators showed some ability to generalise his understanding of copying. In a second study, we presented Philip with a sequence of human actions, again using the 'Do as I do' paradigm. All demonstrated actions had basically the same structure: the owner picked up a bottle from one of six places; transferred it to one of the five other places and then commanded the dog ('Do it!'). We found that Philip duplicated the entire sequence of moving a specific object from one particular place to another more often than expected by chance. Although results point to significant limitations in his imitative abilities, it seems that the dog could have recognized the action sequence, on the basis of observation alone, in terms of the initial state, the means, and the goal. This suggests that dogs might acquire abilities by observation that enhance their success in complex socio-behavioural situations.
Address Comparative Ethology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Pazmany, P. 1/c H-1117, Hungary. kea@t-online.hu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17024511 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2434
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