Examinations of CS and US preexposure and postexposure in conditioned taste aversion: Applications in behavioral interventions for chemotherapy anticipatory nausea and vomiting
Publication date: August 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 59 Author(s): Ying-Chou Wang, Hsin-Yeh Lee, Alan Bo-Han He, Andrew Chih Wei Huang Examining CS or US preexposure and postexposure to dissociate conditioned stimulus (CS)-unconditioned stimulus (US) conditioned learning and apply these findings to alleviate anticipatory nausea and vomiting are crucial for cancer chemotherapy patients. The present study utilized a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) paradigm in rats to develop a new behavioral intervention. Experiment 1 evaluated Control, Conditioning, CS preexposure, and CS postexposure groups. Experime...
Source: Learning and Motivation - August 31, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Conditioned inhibition in the spatial domain in humans and rats
Publication date: August 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 59 Author(s): Edward S. Redhead, Wai Chan Spatial learning has been shown to follow associative rules by demonstrations of blocking and overshadowing in both watermazes with rats and virtual watermazes with humans. To examine whether Conditioned Inhibition (CI) can also be demonstrated in a real and virtual watermaze task, two studies were run, one with rats and one with humans. In separate training trials, Beacons A and B marked the position of a platform in quadrant X of circular watermaze (AX+/BX+). In subsequent inhibitory training trials, Beacon ...
Source: Learning and Motivation - August 19, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Ethological approaches to studying psychological phenomena
Publication date: Available online 4 August 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation Author(s): Douglas G. Wallace (Source: Learning and Motivation)
Source: Learning and Motivation - August 5, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Overt verbalization of strategies to attend to and retain learning about the threat conditioned stimulus reduces US expectancy generalization during extinction
This study examined whether overt verbalization of strategies to attend to and retain learning about the threat conditioned stimulus during extinction enhanced fear reduction and retention. A discriminative Pavlovian conditioning and extinction procedure was used. During acquisition, one geometric shape (CS+) was paired with an unpleasant tone (US), and another (CS-) was always presented alone. During extinction, both CSs were presented alone. Prior to extinction, the Verbalization group was instructed to verbalize strategies to enhance attention to (i.e., “look and learn”) and the retention of learning about (i.e., ...
Source: Learning and Motivation - July 27, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Decaffeinated coffee induces a faster conditioned reaction time even when participants know that the drink does not contain caffeine
In conclusion, both experiments supported the hypothesis that caffeine-associated stimuli induced a conditioned response in people who drank coffee regularly. Therefore, in everyday life, decaffeinated coffee may improve performance in coffee drinkers. (Source: Learning and Motivation)
Source: Learning and Motivation - July 27, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Reprint of “Sequential organization of movement kinematics is associated with spatial orientation across scales and species”
Publication date: Available online 24 July 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation Author(s): Douglas G. Wallace A large part of an animals’ behavioral repertoire involves non-conditioned or spontaneously occurring behaviors (e.g., exploration, food hoarding, food protection, food handling). These behaviors are highly organized sequences of movement. In general, these movement sequences alternate between periods of fast linear speeds with little change in heading and periods of slow linear speeds with larger change in heading. This sequential organization or movement segmentation can be quantified as the correlation betwe...
Source: Learning and Motivation - July 26, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The differential effects of incidental anger and sadness on goal regulation
Publication date: May 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 58 Author(s): SinHui Chong, Guihyun Park Individuals commonly enter a task domain with pre-existing emotions. These pre-existing emotions, known as incidental emotions, can potentially shape subsequent goal-setting behaviors without individuals’ awareness, and in unique ways based on the characteristics associated with each emotion. Existing literature, however, does little to inform us about the specific effects of these emotions on goal-setting behaviors. In this paper, we draw on the theory of self-regulation of action and affect to argue that incid...
Source: Learning and Motivation - June 17, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Optimistic belief updating despite inclusion of positive events
Publication date: May 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 58 Author(s): Joseph Marks, Stephanie Baines A recent methodology – namely, the belief update task – used in the study of unrealistic optimism has provided a mechanistic account of how people maintain positive illusions about their future in the face of disconfirming evidence. This methodology has been used in a series of neuroscientific studies and neural moderators of unrealistic optimism have been established. A subsequent critique of the belief update task by Shah et al. (2016) has cast doubt over the validity of these findings however, with the ...
Source: Learning and Motivation - June 11, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The generalization of conditioned startle responses from known to unknown lies
Publication date: Available online 10 June 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation Author(s): Verena Zimmermann, Jasmin Wittmann, Daniela Sparrer, Andreas Mühlberger, Youssef Shiban Throughout history, there has always been a need to find out whether people are telling the truth. Classical deception detection methods, such as polygraph-based techniques, have so far failed to accurately and reliably detect deception, as they are limited in various aspects. Therefore, results are susceptible to manipulation. In the current study, we attempt to improve lie detection using a classical conditioning procedure with startle re...
Source: Learning and Motivation - June 11, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Effects of emotion and motivation on memory dissociate in the context of losses
Publication date: May 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 58 Author(s): Holly J. Bowen, Julia Spaniol Both emotion and motivation exert influence over memory processes, but whether they do so via similar or different cognitive mechanisms is not yet fully understood. In the laboratory, the two types of affect are typically manipulated with different procedures, making it difficult to compare their effects on memory. In the current study, a modified monetary incentive delay task was used to induce anticipatory and outcome-related affective states. Participants either had partial control over outcomes (motivation ...
Source: Learning and Motivation - June 10, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Social context-switch effects on the reacquisition of appetitive responses in rats
Publication date: May 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 58 Author(s): Javier Nieto, Tere A. Mason, Rodolfo Bernal-Gamboa It is widely accepted that the presence of one animal can influence what another learns. The present experimental series explored the role of social context in the retrieval of extinguished instrumental responses. A new experimental task with rats to study operant responses in groups was used. During acquisition, all rats were trained to approach the spout of a bottle to drink a sweet solution. Then, rats underwent extinction. Finally, a reacquisition test was conducted. A slow reacquisiti...
Source: Learning and Motivation - May 26, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
An extinction cue reduces appetitive Pavlovian reinstatement in rats
Publication date: May 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 58 Author(s): Douglas C. Brooks, Devin A. Fava A Pavlovian appetitive conditioning preparation with rats was used to assess the effect of an extinction cue on reinstatement after extinction. Reinstatement provides an animal analog to relapses following treatment in humans; it occurs when a conditioned stimulus elicits strong conditioned responding following extinction and presentation of the unconditioned stimulus. An extinction cue is a stimulus presented during extinction of behavior controlled by the conditioned stimulus and is also presented later wh...
Source: Learning and Motivation - May 6, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
An animal model of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior
Publication date: May 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 58 Author(s): Clare J. Liddon, Michael E. Kelley, Christopher A. Podlesnik Basic and translational research provides the opportunity to evaluate variables that may be difficult to examine thoroughly with clinical populations. For example, practitioners report that problem behavior treated with differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) is often prone to treatment relapse. We sought to assess resurgence in the context of an animal model of a clinical DRA treatment with pigeons. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that an animal model of a clin...
Source: Learning and Motivation - April 28, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
String-pulling for food by the rat: Assessment of movement, topography and kinematics of a bilaterally skilled forelimb act
Publication date: Available online 26 April 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation Author(s): Ashley A. Blackwell, Jenny R. Köppen, Ian Q. Whishaw, Douglas G. Wallace A variety of behavioral tests have been developed to assess skilled forelimb function in the rat, including tests that assess use of a single limb in reaching for food and placing it in the mouth for eating. The present study describes bilateral hand use in string-pulling to obtain a food reward. The movement consists of alternating forelimb movements in which a limb is advanced to grasp a string and withdraw it toward the body in order to retrieve a food...
Source: Learning and Motivation - April 27, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Using video modeling with voiceover instruction plus feedback to train implementation of stimulus preference assessments
Publication date: May 2017 Source:Learning and Motivation, Volume 58 Author(s): Casey L. Nottingham, Jason C. Vladescu, Antonia R. Giannakakos, Lauren K. Schnell Behavior analysts frequently use stimulus preference assessments to identify putative reinforcers for consumers with autism spectrum disorder. The current study evaluated the effect of video modeling with voiceover instruction and on-screen text (VMVOT) and performance feedback to train staff to implement the multiple-stimulus-without-replacement, paired-stimulus, and single-stimulus preference assessments. Generalization probes with a larger stimulus array ...
Source: Learning and Motivation - April 23, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
