A common procedural variation that facilitates the acquisition of conditional discriminations is to increase the time an organism spends in the presence of the sample stimulus by programming extended sample-observing response requirements. Despite their common use, there has been little empirical investigation of the effects of extended sample-observing response requirements. In the current study, four pigeons worked on a titrating delay matching-to-sample procedure in which the delay between sample offset and comparison onset was adjusted as a function of the pigeons' accuracy. The number of responses required to produce the comparison array was manipulated across conditions. Results show that all subjects were able to withstand longer delays between sample offset and comparison onset as sample-observing response requirements increased. These data show that the extent of the response requirement in the presence of the sample has systematic effects on conditional discrimination performances and should be considered in the design of experiments.

A graphic design campaign that aims to contribute to a positive attitude regarding mental illness. / <p>Examensarbetet är utfört vid Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap (ITN) vid Tekniska fakulteten, Linköpings universitet</p>

This study investigated the effects of environmental consequences and data 'collection in a behavior contracting procedure for obesity. Also, a validity study examined the GSR as a subject-independent-monitoring technique. Sixteen subjects matched on sex and percent overweight were assigned to one of three contract conditions or to a no-treatment condition. The Data Only Contract Group received consequences for data collection. The With Consequences Contract Group received consequences for data collection and behaviors relevant to weight loss. The Without Consequences Contract Group received no consequences for data collection or behaviors relevant to weight loss. The With Consequences Contract Group lost significantly more weight ( p ≤ .05) than the No Treatment Group. Specific effects were not determined. The results of the validity study suggest that the GSR may not be a valid instrument as a subject-independent-monitoring technique. Factors affecting the galvanic skin response's- effectiveness were discussed.

Two groups of eleven retarded adults each were used as subjects. An individually consequated token economy was in effect during baseline-1 for both groups. The treatment phase of the experiment consisted of group consequation, the first group receiving a high rate of reinforcement and the second group receiving a low rate. The individual token system was reinstated for both groups during baseline-2 measures. Attending behavior and work output were measured during each phase of the experiment. Significant differences were found between group versus individually contingent reinforcement treatments on attending behaviors, and between high and low contingency groups on performance behaviors. Differences between the high contingency and low contingency groups were found to be non-significant in regard to attending behaviors.

Un défi majeur pour les organismes vivants est leur capacité d’adapter constamment leurs comportements moteurs. Dans la première étude de cette thèse, nous avons étudié le rôle des régularités statistiques et du conditionnement opérant sur la poursuite lisse d’anticipation (PLA). Nous avons démontré que la PLA est générée de manière cohérente avec la probabilité du mouvement attendu. De plus, nous avons montré pour la première fois que la PLA peut être modulée par les contingences de renforcement.Dans une seconde étude, nous avons créé un paradigme de poursuite, inspiré par l’Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), impliquant un choix entre deux cibles associées à différentes récompenses. Nous avons testé ce paradigme chez des patients Parkinson (PP), ainsi que des contrôles âgés ou jeunes. Seulement chez les participants jeunes, la latence du choix oculomoteur est fortement réduite quand celui-ci est associé à une règle de renforcement. Pour les PP le choix est fortement retardé dans toutes les conditions et cet effet n’est pas simplement attribuable à un déficit moteur. Autrement, la stratégie de choix s’avère de mauvaise qualité dans tous les groupes suggérant des différences avec les résultats de l’IGT classique.La dernière contribution de cette thèse fut de modéliser l’effet du biais directionnel sur la PLA que nous avons observé dans la première étude. Nous avons testé deux modèles incluant une mémoire de type intégrateur à fuite de la séquence d’essais, ou l’estimation Bayesienne adaptative de la taille optimale de mémoire. Nos résultats suggèrent que les modèles adaptatifs pourraient contribuer dans le futur à mieux comprendre l’apprentissage statistique et par renforcement. / One of the main challenges for living organisms is the ability to constantly adapt their motor behavior. In the first study of this thesis, we investigated the role of statistical regularities and operant conditioning on anticipatory smooth eye movements (aSPEM), in a large set of healthy participants. We provided evidence that aSPEM are generated coherently with the expected probability of motion direction. Furthermore, by manipulating reinforcement contingencies our findings demonstrated for the first time that aSPEM can be considered an operant behavior. In a second study, we designed a novel two-targets choice-tracking task, where a choice-contingent reward was returned, inspired by Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). We administered this new paradigm to Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients as well as age-matched control participants and young adult controls. For young participants, choice latency was clearly shortened in the IGT-pursuit task compared to the control-task. For PD patients choice latency was overall delayed and this difference could not be attributed to pure motor deficits. Overall the choice strategy performance was poor in all groups suggesting some possible differences between the standard IGT task and our IGT-pursuit task in probing decision-making. The last contribution of this thesis is an attempt to model the relation between aSPEM velocity and local direction-bias. Two models were tested to account for the trial-sequence effects, including either a decaying memory, or a Bayesian adaptive estimation of the efficient memory size. Our results suggest that adaptive models could be used in the future to better assess statistical and reinforcement learning.

Operant conditioning using positive reinforcement techniques has been used extensively in the management of nonhuman primates in both zoological and laboratory settings. Based on a large body of previous research that demonstrates the utility of such techniques in reducing stress, abnormal behavior, and aggression, this research project was intended to develop and test the usefulness of habituation and counter-conditioning techniques in reducing the fear-responses of singly-housed male rhesus macaques living in the laboratory environment. Additionally, we investigated the variable of temperament as it relates to the reduction of fear-responsivity and overall training success. Based on a Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Sign Test, we found that animals exposed to desensitization training were significantly likely to show a reduction in the rate at which they engaged in cringing toward humans (exact significance = .016, one-tailed, N ties = 6), cringing in general (exact significance = .016, one-tailed, N ties = 6), and in stress-related behaviors (exact significance = .016, one-tailed, N ties = 6). Animals exposed to basic husbandry training or exposed to no training at all were not significantly likely to show a reduction in the rates of these behaviors. When these same behaviors were analyzed in terms of duration of behavior, desensitization-exposed animals were significantly likely to show reduction in the amount of time spent cringing toward humans (exact significance = .016, one-tailed, N ties = 6), but not in cringing behaviors in general or in stress-related behaviors. Neither the husbandry-exposed group nor the group exposed to no training showed a significant number of subjects exhibiting a reduction in duration of any of these behaviors. Additionally, initial temperament assessments were found to significantly predict the relative ability of subjects exposed to training to acquire trained behaviors such that animals generally ranked as more inhibited in terms of temperament also ranked as slower learners based on a Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks test, z = -.316, p = .752 (two-tailed). Results of this study could enhance both laboratory animal welfare and laboratory animal research, and could be a first step in developing techniques for reducing fearful behavior in rhesus monkeys in the laboratory environment.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 142 pages. / Thesis (Ed.S.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Given that researchers estimate approximately one child in every classroom has Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that most of these students are served in the general education classroom, it is imperative that general education teachers know how to effectively teach these students. Seventy-two general education elementary school teachers completed a survey containing demographic information, a knowledge of ADHD questionnaire, and a survey on interventions for students with ADHD. Results indicated that teachers scored an average of 57% correct on the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders Scale (KADDS), scoring statistically significantly higher on the Symptoms/Diagnosis subscale compared to the General and Treatment subscales. / ABSTRACT: In terms of the interventions, teachers felt more knowledgeable, perceived their skill to be greater, rated as more acceptable, and rated lower barriers to the implementation of classroom management interventions such as the use of cues, prompts, and attention checks; physical arrangement; structure; and varied presentation and format of materials. Teachers felt they knew least about, had less skill, rated as less acceptable, and had more barriers to the implementation of behavior management interventions such as token economy, response cost, and time-out from positive reinforcement, as well as self-management techniques. Most demographic variables were unrelated to teachers' knowledge of ADHD, their perceived knowledge of interventions, and their ratings of acceptability of interventions. / ABSTRACT: Based on the information presented, teachers need more training and knowledge in the area of ADHD and interventions for students with ADHD in order to effectively help children with the disorder. Importantly, school psychologists and other service providers who suggest interventions for teachers to use for students with ADHD need to consider the factors that contribute to teachers' acceptability of interventions. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

: Mon travail de thèse a porté sur l’étude neurocomportementale des actions et des habitudes chez le Rat. En effet, lors d’un apprentissage opérant la réponse peut être acquise selon deux systèmes associatifs. Le premier dépend d’une représentation des conséquences de la réponse, le second d’une association plus « simple » entre le stimulus et la réponse. Un premier axe de recherche a consisté à étudier plusieurs paramètres du conditionnement, afin de déterminer leur influence sur le contrôle de la réponse instrumentale par un système plutôt que l’autre. Le deuxième axe de recherche a porté sur l’étude des substrats neuronaux impliqués dans l’acquisition et l’expression d’une action, par l’intermédiaire de techniques d’inactivation cérébrale et d’étude immuno-histochimique de l’expression génique de la protéine Fos. / Previous research has established that instrumental conditioning, in both primates and rats, is mediated by two concurrent associative systems. In early stages of training, instrumental response is thought to be mediated by an association between the action and the outcome (A-O). While training proceeds however, as the response becomes less sensible to the outcome value, it is conceived as being mediated by an association between thestimulus and the response (S-R). Recent evidences suggest that the both systems operate in tandem and/or competition from the beginning of training. This work aimed at studying the mechanisms that coordinate the control of the instrumental response by the goal-directedsystem or the habit system. A first batch of results indicates no effect of the amount of training sessions on the goal-directed nature of the conditioned instrumental response. Indeed,the outcome devaluations by CTA or selective satiety reduced the instrumental performances,independently of the training procedure applied. The instrumental responses resulting from our 3 training procedures depend of an actualized representation of their outcomes. A secondbatch of results indicates that information about the context of instrumental conditioning isincluded in the incentive representation of the outcome. Indeed, we observed no sensitivity tooutcome devaluation when devaluation occurred outside the training context. These results offer new original hypotheses about context encoding and the nature of instrumental responding. A third batch of experiments investigates the role of the prelimbic cortex in acquisition vs. expression of goal-directed instrumental behaviour, using reversible neuronal inactivation. The results show that the prelimbic cortex plays a transient but crucial role in theacquisition of goal-directed responding and that the A-O and S-R systems can operate in a competitive fashion early in training. Using ex-vivo imaging, a last batch of experiments aimed to study the temporal cerebral activation throughout instrumental training with a focuson prefrontal and striatal regions. Results show levels of Fos expression that vary with regions. At the beginning of conditioning, the density of Fos positive nuclei is high in the prefrontal regions. It decreases with training. Labelling is denser in the dorsomedial striatumthan in the dorsolateral striatum. The weak activation in the dorsolateral striatum appears consistent with the absence of habit. These data are in accordance with data of the literature concerning dynamics of activation in cortico-striatal circuits. Furthermore, they are in agreement with the suggestion that activity in the prelimbic cortex could promote the acquisition of goal-directed action by the induction of neuronal plasticity in the dorsal striatum.

Research on operant learning principles suggests that discriminative stimuli, and negative and positive reinforcement play a role in the maintenance of smoking behavior. Smoking research from a respondent learning paradigm focuses on the role of environmental stimuli that function as elicitors of physiological responses related to smoking. Basic research suggests that compensatory responses may play a role in drug tolerance and relapse. In one preliminary study assessing the role of compensatory responses to smoking stimuli (Machado, 2011), drops in carbon monoxide (CO) were observed only when smokers viewed smoking related stimuli. However, it is possible that these patterns were influenced by CO monitor sensitivity to differing exhalation durations in which exhalation duration may have been under stimulus control of the smoking stimuli. The purpose of the current study was twofold: Study 1 controlled for exhalation duration by holding exhalation duration constant using a within subject design and Study 2 precisely measured but did not control total exhalation duration in an attempt to replicate the results from Machado (2011). Results from Study 1 did not support the presence of compensatory responses in smokers; results from Study 2 did not support the presence of operantly maintained exhalation durations. Study limitations, implications and future directions are discussed.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Naltrexone (NTX) is clinically efficacious at attenuating alcohol intake in non-abstinent alcoholics and, to a lesser extent, craving, independent of intake. While generally regarded as a non-selective opioid antagonist, NTX has been shown to have concentration dependent selectivity with lower doses (< 1.0 mg/kg) selective for the mu receptor and doses exceeding 1.0 mg/kg capable of binding to delta and kappa receptors. Like the mu system, the delta receptor system has also been implicated in mediating the rewarding effects of EtOH. In contrast, the role of the kappa system is less clear though recent evidence suggests that kappa activation may mediate EtOH aversion. Thus, the present study sought to evaluate the effects of both mu-selective and non-selective doses of naltrexone, the selective delta antagonist naltrindole (NTI), and the selective kappa agonist U50,488H (U50) in a paradigm that procedurally separates the motivation to seek versus consume a reinforcer to assess whether these receptor-selective drugs differentially affects these behaviors in both selected (alcohol-preferring P rats) and non-selected (Long Evans) rats, and whether these effects are specific to EtOH. Rats were trained to complete a single response requirement that resulted in access to either 2% sucrose or 10% EtOH for a 20-min drinking session. In three separate experiments, rats were injected (using a balanced design) with either vehicle or 1 of 3 doses of drug: U50 (IP; 2.5, 5.0, or 10.0mg/kg), NTI (IP; 2.5, 5.0, or 10.0 mg/kg), low NTX (SC; 0.1, 0.3, or 1.0 mg/kg) or high NTX (SC; 1.0, 3.0, or 10.0 mg/kg) on both consummatory and appetitive treatment days. Following either a 20 (U50), 15 (NTI), or 30 minute (NTX) pretreatment, rats were placed into an operant chamber and intake (consummatory) or lever responses (appetitive) and response latencies were recorded. The results showed that overall: U50, NTI, and NTX attenuated intake and responding for sucrose and EtOH. Independent of reinforcer, LE rats were more sensitive to U50’s effects on intake while P rats were more sensitive to the effects on seeking. P rats reinforced with EtOH were more sensitive to NTI’s effects on intake and seeking than all other rat groups. P rats were more sensitive overall to lower doses of NTX than LE rats and lower doses of NTX were more selective in attenuating EtOH responding vs. sucrose. Higher doses of NTX suppressed intake and responding across both lines and reinforcers. These results demonstrate that craving and intake may be differentially regulated by the kappa, delta, and mu opioid receptor systems as a function of “family history” and suggest that different mechanisms of the same (opioid) system may differentially affect craving and intake.