Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 20 of 20

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Changes In Visual Scanning During Stimulus Equivalence Training, Katelyn Jones Jan 2024

Changes In Visual Scanning During Stimulus Equivalence Training, Katelyn Jones

MSU Graduate Theses

Stimulus equivalence-based training allows learners to gain new knowledge by deriving novel relations without being directly taught. This is an important skill that some individuals, especially in special populations, have as a deficit. One possible reason individuals may struggle with stimulus equivalence is a deficit in visual experience that promotes selective attention to stimulus properties. With the advancement of technology, visual tracking and visual scanning offers a means to assess visual behavior in detail while learning stimulus associations. Identifying individual differences, and deficits in visual scanning behavior should provide researchers with better means to design interventions, promoting appropriate visual scanning …


Short-Term Learning For Long-Term Retention : Dynamic Associative Memory, Joseph James Glavan Iv Jan 2023

Short-Term Learning For Long-Term Retention : Dynamic Associative Memory, Joseph James Glavan Iv

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Instead of characterizing transfer from short-term memory to long-term memory as the relocation of information from one structural system to another, I propose a theory that conceives of transfer as the learning processes that act on and transform the representations of the information itself. Dynamic Associative Memory posits that recently encoded memories are supported by active maintenance and the relevance of the current context. Over time, the current context becomes less relevant; therefore, the brain must learn contextually invariant associations between memories so that they may support themselves. I instantiated my theory in the ACT-R cognitive architecture and created a …


Associative Learning In The Monodelphis Domestica Utilizing The Cpa Paradigm, Joseph Caleb Cantu Jul 2022

Associative Learning In The Monodelphis Domestica Utilizing The Cpa Paradigm, Joseph Caleb Cantu

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to investigate associative learning in the Monodelphis domestica by utilizing the conditioned place aversion paradigm (CPA). The Monodelphis domestica has been used as an animal model for research in multiple fields; however, there is still little information regarding associative learning or utilizing a CPA paradigm. Expanding the literature of the Monodelphis domestica would be adding to the limited research concerning associative learning utilizing the CPA paradigm.


Biological Sex Differences In The Monodelphis Domestica: Investigating Behavioral Responses In Environmental Enrichment And Conditioned Place Preference Paradigms, Katelynn M. Renteria May 2022

Biological Sex Differences In The Monodelphis Domestica: Investigating Behavioral Responses In Environmental Enrichment And Conditioned Place Preference Paradigms, Katelynn M. Renteria

Theses and Dissertations

The Monodelphis domestica, commonly known as the grey short-tailed opossum, has become an increasingly frequented animal model for areas of psychological study, including comparative psychology. Despite the growing interest in utilizing the Monodelphis as an animal model, several areas of research remain limited in what has been studied. This includes associative learning and the effects of environmental enrichment on the Monodelphis. This study novelly incorporates the two using environmental enrichment with the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm to both diversify associative learning literature and expand existing knowledge on the Monodelphis domestica. The CPP paradigm included interactive objects as environmental …


Pain Sentience Criteria And Their Grading, Eva Jablonka, Simona Ginsburg Jan 2022

Pain Sentience Criteria And Their Grading, Eva Jablonka, Simona Ginsburg

Animal Sentience

On the basis of the target article by Crump and colleagues, we suggest a more parsimonious scheme for evaluating the evidence for sentience. Since some of the criteria used by Crump et al. are not independent and some are uninformative we exclude some criteria and amalgamate others. We propose that evidence of flexible learning and prioritization, in conjunction with relevant data on brain organization, is sufficient for assigning pain-sentience to an animal and we suggest a scoring scheme based on four criteria.


Corticostriatal Pathway Inactivation And Connections To Associative Learning With Nicotine Stimulus In Rats, Anna Kalinowski Jan 2021

Corticostriatal Pathway Inactivation And Connections To Associative Learning With Nicotine Stimulus In Rats, Anna Kalinowski

Honors Theses and Capstones

The main concern of this study is looking into the neural mechanisms of associative learning with a nicotine stimulus. The goal of this study was to find out if inactivating the corticostriatal pathway through DREADDs (Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs) inhibited goal-tracking behavior in rats. In this experiment, rats underwent two surgeries. One was to inject DREADDs into the infralimbic cortex and the other in the dorsomedial caudate-putamen (dmCPu). Rats were initially trained on levers through water deprivation. Once they reached the criterion, they moved on to the self-administration phase. After the rats were trained in self-administration sessions …


The Effects Of Aging On Attention In Associative Learning, Katie Wheeler Oct 2020

The Effects Of Aging On Attention In Associative Learning, Katie Wheeler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study we investigated how aging affects attention to predictive and uncertain cues during associative learning. According to Mackintosh’s theory of predictiveness (1975), attention will be allocated to cues that most reliably predict an outcome. An opposing theory of uncertainty from Pearce and Hall (1980) suggest attention will be allocated to cues whose outcomes are uncertain. Although these theories are contradictory, both are well supported in the associative learning literature. There is evidence that young and older adults give more attention to cues that are predictive compared to nonpredictive cues (Mutter et al., 2019), and that young adults respond …


Is Social Rank Correlated With Cognitive Ability In Black-Capped Chickadees?, Gloria Hyun Young Cho Jul 2020

Is Social Rank Correlated With Cognitive Ability In Black-Capped Chickadees?, Gloria Hyun Young Cho

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Traditionally, dominant animals have been regarded as better competitors in all aspects of life, including cognition. However, the survival and reproductive advantages of being a dominant chickadee are surprisingly modest. It is possible that subordinate individuals compensate for the disadvantages of a lower rank with better cognitive abilities. If dominants are monopolizing prime food sources, subordinates may have developed better associative learning skills by learning to associate novel types of stimuli with food rewards. In this thesis, I asked whether dominance rank is correlated with cognitive ability in Black-capped Chickadees. I determined dominance rank in six flocks of six chickadees, …


Multisensory Associative Learning And Multisensory Integration, Sebastien Lauzon Feb 2020

Multisensory Associative Learning And Multisensory Integration, Sebastien Lauzon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Human multisensory experiences with the world rely on a combination of top-down and bottom-up influences, a process that changes throughout development. The present study explored the relationship between multisensory associative learning and multisensory integration using encephalography (EEG) and behavioural measures. While recording EEG activity, participants were exposed to novel pairings of non-sociolinguistic audiovisual stimuli of varying presentation probability while performing a detection task. The same stimuli were then used in another detection task, which was followed by an analogous behavioural speeded-response task, both of which kept probabilities equal and tested for multisensory integration. Significant relationships were found in fronto-central and …


The Effect Of Methylphenidate On Associative Learning Among Youth With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Amy R. Altszuler Jun 2019

The Effect Of Methylphenidate On Associative Learning Among Youth With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Amy R. Altszuler

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite strong evidence supporting the short-term efficacy of interventions for youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and despite the fact that the majority of youth with ADHD receive treatment for the disorder at some point over the course of childhood, the long-term prognosis for individuals with ADHD remains poor. One potential explanation for the gap between short-term efficacy and long-term outcomes is that the most common intervention for youth with ADHD, stimulant medication, paradoxically undermines children’s abilities to learn from contingencies through their action on the dopaminergic system. The dynamic dopamine theory posits that by increasing levels of dopamine, stimulant medication …


Temporal Context-Specificity In Predictive Learning Produced With Visual, But Not Musical, Primes, Catherine Woosley Luna Apr 2018

Temporal Context-Specificity In Predictive Learning Produced With Visual, But Not Musical, Primes, Catherine Woosley Luna

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In this study we investigated whether a musical prime would produce a contextspecificity effect in predictive learning. Participants were divided into six conditions of a spy-radio predictive learning task. The six conditions were comprised of a combination of three primes (i.e. visual, music, or both) and two learning phase groups (i.e. retrieve, default). The primes indicated the type of stimulus used to prime the temporal context for the test cue-outcome association. The learning phase groups indicated which temporal context would be primed. In the retrieve group, learning Phase 1 was primed; in the default group learning Phase 2 was primed. …


Series Of Intermittent Heroin Injections Enhances Acquisition Of Operant Responding For Cues Paired With Natural Rewards, Jennifer Morrison Sep 2016

Series Of Intermittent Heroin Injections Enhances Acquisition Of Operant Responding For Cues Paired With Natural Rewards, Jennifer Morrison

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Repeated-intermittent heroin use has been implicated in altering learning processes. Ranaldi et al. (2009) and Morrison et al. (2011) demonstrated that repeated-intermittent heroin administration leads to an enhancement of conditioned reinforcement by a food-paired light stimulus; however, the mechanism governing this effect is still largely unknown. The aims of the present study were to examine modifications in Pavlovian and operant associations for cues paired with natural rewards after a series of intermittent heroin injections. The study consisted of three phases: (1) Pavlovian Conditioning Phase (4 days)- in which three groups of rats had a light stimulus paired with food, and …


Learning And Memory In The Port Jackson Shark, Heterodontus Portusjacksoni, Tristan L. Guttridge, Culum Brown May 2016

Learning And Memory In The Port Jackson Shark, Heterodontus Portusjacksoni, Tristan L. Guttridge, Culum Brown

Culum Brown, PhD

Basic understanding of the fundamental principles and mechanisms involved in learning is lacking for elasmobranch fishes. Our aim in this study was to experimentally investigate the learning and memory capacity of juvenile Port Jackson sharks, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. Sharks (N = 30) were conditioned over a 19-day period to associate an underwater LED light or stream of air-bubbles [conditioned stimulus (CS)] with a food reward [unconditioned stimulus (US)], using three procedures (delay, trace and control). During experiments, the CS signalled at a random time between 180 and 300 s for 30 s (six times per day). For the delay the US …


An Exploration Of Target Event Encoding In A Predictive Learning Task With Humans: Integrated Or Separable Processing?, Natasha B. Nadler Feb 2016

An Exploration Of Target Event Encoding In A Predictive Learning Task With Humans: Integrated Or Separable Processing?, Natasha B. Nadler

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A major theme in the study of Pavlovian learning explores how attributes of a predicted event are represented and encoded. In Pavlovian conditioning, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is frequently assumed to associate with one or more of the various attributes of a motivationally significant unconditioned stimulus (US, e.g. it’s hedonic, motivational, and/or sensory features). The present research asks whether humans learn to predict and encode different aspects of motivationally neutral target events, namely, their specific sensory and temporal features in a separable or integrated manner. This question of how target events are encoded has implications for associative and timing models …


Learning And Memory In The Port Jackson Shark, Heterodontus Portusjacksoni, Tristan L. Guttridge, Culum Brown Mar 2014

Learning And Memory In The Port Jackson Shark, Heterodontus Portusjacksoni, Tristan L. Guttridge, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Basic understanding of the fundamental principles and mechanisms involved in learning is lacking for elasmobranch fishes. Our aim in this study was to experimentally investigate the learning and memory capacity of juvenile Port Jackson sharks, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. Sharks (N = 30) were conditioned over a 19-day period to associate an underwater LED light or stream of air-bubbles [conditioned stimulus (CS)] with a food reward [unconditioned stimulus (US)], using three procedures (delay, trace and control). During experiments, the CS signalled at a random time between 180 and 300 s for 30 s (six times per day). For the delay the US …


Accessing Learning In The Adult Zebrafish With A Novel Associative Learning Task, David Joseph Jouandot Ii May 2013

Accessing Learning In The Adult Zebrafish With A Novel Associative Learning Task, David Joseph Jouandot Ii

Dissertations

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is accepted in the developmental and genomic communities as a model organism. However, the capacity for the zebrafish as a behavioral model has yet to be fully acknowledged. The research presented provides evidence validating the novel task, aids in gaining a better understanding of the learning processes, and identifies individual differences. The novel associative learning task differs from any present well established behavioral model and lends itself to future development. The task provides the zebrafish community with a high output behavioral task which is readily replicated and allows one researcher to test between eight …


What's Reason Got To Do With It? Affect As The Foundation Of Learning, Eliza Bliss-Moreau, Lisa Feldman Barrett Mar 2011

What's Reason Got To Do With It? Affect As The Foundation Of Learning, Eliza Bliss-Moreau, Lisa Feldman Barrett

Lisa Feldman Barrett

We propose that learning has a top-down component, but not in the propositional terms described by Mitchell et al. Specifically, we propose that a host of learning processes, including associative learning, serve to imbue the representation of the conditioned stimulus (CS) with affective meaning.


The Influence Of Alcohol Advertising On Associative Memory And Consideration Sets, James Charles Smith Jan 2009

The Influence Of Alcohol Advertising On Associative Memory And Consideration Sets, James Charles Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Survey studies suggest that alcohol advertising influences attitudes and beliefs that promote alcohol use. Strategies from memory research and marketing were used to test the influence of beer advertising found in popular magazines. Effects on preference for alcohol and memory associations between alcohol and the positive outcomes of drinking were measured. One hundred eighty undergraduate women and men viewed 5 ads. A 2 x 2 + 1 (control group) factorial design simultaneously varied ad type (arousing or sedating messages) with processing type (selective attention or elaborative processing). Preferences for alcohol and memory associations did not differ between the control group …


Discrimination Reversal Learning In Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Apella), Michael J. Beran, Emily D. Klein, Theodore A. Evans, Betty Chan, Timothy M. Flemming, Emily H. Harris, David A. Washburn, Duane M. Rumbaugh Jan 2008

Discrimination Reversal Learning In Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Apella), Michael J. Beran, Emily D. Klein, Theodore A. Evans, Betty Chan, Timothy M. Flemming, Emily H. Harris, David A. Washburn, Duane M. Rumbaugh

Language Research Center

Learning styles in capuchin monkeys were assessed with a computerized reversal- learning task called the mediationaJ paradigm. First, monkeys were trained to respond with 90% accuracy on a two-choice discrimination (A+B-). Then the authors examined differences in performance on three different types of reversal trials (A-B+, A-C+, B+C-), each of which offered differing predictions for performance, depending on whether the monkeys were using associative cues or rule-based strategies. Performance indicated that the monkeys mainly learned to avoid the B stimulus during training, as the A-C+ condition produced the best performance levels. Therefore, negative stimuli showed greater control over responding after …


Effects Of Age On Contextually Mediated Associations In Paired Associate Learning, Jennifer Patricia Provyn May 2007

Effects Of Age On Contextually Mediated Associations In Paired Associate Learning, Jennifer Patricia Provyn

Psychology - Theses

Older adults demonstrate an associative memory deficit that has been attributed to difficulty binding item information to contextual information (Naveh-Benjamin, 2000). Accounts of temporally-defined episodic associations that depend upon contextual retrieval (TCM Howard & Kahana, 2002) predict that a deficit in item-to-context binding will result in fewer backward (b-a) and transitive (a-c) associations. To measure group differences in backward and transitive associations, younger and older participants learned single function lists of paired associates with no contextual overlap (e.g., j-k, l-m) and double-function lists of paired associates consisting of chains of pairs (e.g., a-b, b-c). Although younger adults out-performed older adults …