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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 9 Pages (down) 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
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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 6 Pages (down) 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
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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 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 4 Pages (down) 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 Matzke, S.M.; Oubre, J.L.; Caranto, G.R.; Gentry, M.K.; Galbicka, G.
Title Behavioral and immunological effects of exogenous butyrylcholinesterase in rhesus monkeys Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior Abbreviated Journal Pharmacol Biochem Behav
Volume 62 Issue 3 Pages (down) 523-530
Keywords Animals; Antibody Formation/drug effects; Behavior, Animal/*drug effects; Butyrylcholinesterase/*immunology/pharmacokinetics/*pharmacology; Cognition/drug effects; Color Perception/drug effects; Conditioning, Operant/drug effects; Discrimination Learning/drug effects; Half-Life; Horses; Humans; Macaca mulatta; Male
Abstract Although conventional therapies prevent organophosphate (OP) lethality, laboratory animals exposed to such treatments typically display behavioral incapacitation. Pretreatment with purified exogenous human or equine serum butyrylcholinesterase (Eq-BuChE), conversely, has effectively prevented OP lethality in rats and rhesus monkeys, without producing the adverse side effects associated with conventional treatments. In monkeys, however, using a commercial preparation of Eq-BuChE has been reported to incapacitate responding. In the present study, repeated administration of commercially prepared Eq-BuChE had no systematic effect on behavior in rhesus monkeys as measured by a six-item serial probe recognition task, despite 7- to 18-fold increases in baseline BuChE levels in blood. Antibody production induced by the enzyme was slight after the first injection and more pronounced following the second injection. The lack of behavioral effects, the relatively long in vivo half-life, and the previously demonstrated efficacy of BuChE as a biological scavenger for highly toxic OPs make BuChE potentially more effective than current treatment regimens for OP toxicity.
Address Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC 20307-5100, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0091-3057 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:10080246 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4064
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Author Zentall, T.R.
Title Support for a theory of memory for event duration must distinguish between test-trial ambiguity and actual memory loss Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior Abbreviated Journal J Exp Anal Behav
Volume 72 Issue 3 Pages (down) 467-472
Keywords Animals; Behavior, Animal/physiology; Columbidae; Conditioning, Operant/physiology; Discrimination Learning/physiology; Memory/*physiology; *Psychological Theory; Time Factors; Time Perception/physiology
Abstract Staddon and Higa's (1999) trace-strength theory of timing and memory for event duration can account for pigeons' bias to “choose short” when retention intervals are introduced and to “choose long” when, following training with a fixed retention interval, retention intervals are shortened. However, it does not account for the failure of pigeons to choose short when the intertrial interval is distinct from the retention interval. That finding suggests that stimulus generalization (or ambiguity) between the intertrial interval and the retention interval may result in an effect that has been attributed to memory loss. Such artifacts must be eliminated before a theory of memory for event duration can be adequately tested.
Address Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506, USA. zentall@pop.uky.edu
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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:10605105 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 251
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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 5 Pages (down) 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
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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 4 Pages (down) 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
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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 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 4 Pages (down) 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
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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 Blackmore, T.L.; Foster, T.M.; Sumpter, C.E.; Temple, W.
Title An investigation of colour discrimination with horses (Equus caballus) Type Journal Article
Year 2008 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 78 Issue 3 Pages (down) 387-396
Keywords Chromatic discrimination; Colour vision; Horse; Operant
Abstract The ability of four horses (Equus caballus) to discriminate coloured (three shades of blue, green, red, and yellow) from grey (neutral density) stimuli, produced by back projected lighting filters, was investigated in a two response forced-choice procedure. Pushes of the lever in front of a coloured screen were occasionally reinforced, pushes of the lever in front of a grey screen were never reinforced. Each colour shade was randomly paired with a grey that was brighter, one that was dimmer, and one that approximately matched the colour in terms of brightness. Each horse experienced the colours in a different order, a new colour was started after 85% correct responses over five consecutive sessions or if accuracy showed no trend over sessions. All horses reached the 85% correct with blue versus grey, three horses did so with both yellow and green versus grey. All were above chance with red versus grey but none reached criterion. Further analysis showed the wavelengths of the green stimuli used overlapped with the yellow. The results are consistent with histological and behavioural studies that suggest that horses are dichromatic. They differ from some earlier data in that they indicate horses can discriminate yellow and blue, but that they may have deficiencies in discriminating red and green.
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ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5336
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Author McKinley, S.; Young, R.J.
Title The efficacy of the model-rival method when compared with operant conditioning for training domestic dogs to perform a retrieval-selection task Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 81 Issue 4 Pages (down) 357-365
Keywords Dogs; Learning; Operant conditioning; Model-rival; Cognition
Abstract Traditionally, dogs have been trained by operant conditioning techniques; that is, dogs make a desired behavioural response and this response is reinforced by a reward such as food. This type of training is very effective in training dogs to perform basic obedience behaviours (e.g. `stay'). However, dogs are social animals and should be predisposed to learn from social stimuli. In the present study, we used a modified version of the model-rival technique that has been extensively used in experiments investigating the cognitive ability of parrots. In this technique, social stimuli are used to create in the animal an interest in the object without the use of food or other rewards. Therefore, the animal learns the name of the object (intrinsic reward) and not that the object's name means food. In this experiment we compared the learning ability of nine pet dogs to solve the same retrieval-selection task having been previously trained using operant conditioning or model-rival techniques. The retrieval-selection task was the dogs had to correctly select the commanded object to bring to the experimenter from a group of three similar objects. The results show no difference in the speeds with which the dogs solved the test--demonstrating the efficacy of the model-rival method. This is the first time that the effectiveness of the model-rival technique has been experimentally demonstrated with dogs. Furthermore, we believe that the methodology reported in this paper has applications in dog training and in experiments into dog cognition.
Address
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Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2900
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